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On 21 March 2003, on the eve of
the American and British offensive in Iraq, Japan
rejoined the ranks of the armed nations for the
first time since 1945. It is against this historical
backdrop that the characters in Five Days in March
become part of a story of the everyday life of
Tokyo adolescents and the so-called hikikomori
— “N” generation (“no
job, no income”). The colloquial language
they speak is utterly real, and betrays a dislocation
as their bodies try to wrest meaning from gestures
in a world where all certainty seems vague and
undefined.
Award-winning playwright and director Toshiki
Okada and his company visit Chapter for two performances
after playing major festivals across Europe (Salzburg,
Vienna, Brussels). chelfitsch are named as a childlike
disarticulation of the word “selfish”,
evoking the social and cultural characteristics
of contemporary Japanese society, especially in
cities such as Tokyo.
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