The Art of 'In-between': Introduction to Theatre Company Awai's Creation and the Fringe Participating Piece 'SONNET Jazz ver.'

Theatre Company Awai is a Japanese theater group that has been active since 2018. The name 'Awai' in the theater group's name means 'in-between' in Japanese. Applying traditional Japanese poetic techniques to contemporary settings and sampling a wide range of influences from Eastern and Western traditional performing arts, classical literature such as Noh and Shakespeare, to modern pop culture, the group consistently presents these elements in avant-garde expressions.

The play 'SONNET Jazz ver.,' which we will perform at YPAM Fringe, takes inspiration from Shakespeare's 'Sonnets.' It is a piece created based on the translation theory and temporal theory of translator Kenichi Yoshida, first performed in 2019. The performance includes live music accompaniment.

In this presentation, we will introduce the creations of Theatre Company Awai and discuss the piece 'SONNET Jazz ver.,' focusing on the 'in-between' of theater and music.