{"product_id":"9781350278363-methuen-drama-book-of-contemporary-japanese-plays-the-bacchae-holstein-milk-cows-one-night-isnt-anyone-alive-the-s","title":"The Methuen Drama Book of Contemporary Japanese Plays","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Bacchae-Holstein Milk Cows; One Night; Isn't Anyone Alive?; The Sun; Carcass\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePublished alongside The Japan Foundation, this collection features five creative and bold plays by some of Japan's most prolific writers of contemporary theatre. Translated into English for the first time, these texts explore a wide range of themes from dystopian ideas of the future to touching domestic tragedies. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrought together in one volume, introduced by the authors and The Japan Foundation, this collection offers English language readers an unprecedented look at some of Japan's finest works of contemporary drama by writers from across the country. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plays include:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bacchae-Holstein Milk Cows by \u003c\/i\u003eSatoko Ichihara (Translated by Aya Ogawa)\u003cbr\u003eThis play takes themes of the ancient Greek tragedy \u003ci\u003eBacchae\u003c\/i\u003e by Euripides to examine various aspects of contemporary society, from love and sex, man and woman, intermixture of different species, discrimination and abuse, to artificial insemination, criticism of anthropocentricism and more. It was the winner of the 64th Kishida Drama Award. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOne Night \u003c\/i\u003eby Yuko Kuwabara (Translated by Mari Boyd)\u003cbr\u003eThe setting is a small taxi company run out of the home of its owner in a country town. One night the mother, Koharu Inamura, decides to leave the home in order to protect her children from her husband’s domestic violence, promising them that she will come back in 15 years. The play depicts the family’s reunion after having to live with the burden of that one night’s (hitoyo) incident and how they restarted their lives after it.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIsn’t Anyone Alive? \u003c\/i\u003eby Shiro Maeda (Translated by Miwa Monden)\u003cbr\u003eThis laid back, absurdist work examines death through a goofy lens. In the play, strange urban legends abound in a university hospital where young people die one after another, all with mobile phones in their hands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sun\u003c\/i\u003e by Tomohiro Maekawa (Translated by Nozomi Abe)\u003cbr\u003eDepicts young people torn apart in a near future setting where humanity has split into two forms: Nox humans who can only go out at night, and Curios, the original type of humans that can live under the sun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCarcass\u003c\/i\u003e by Takuya Yokoyama (Translated by Mari Boyd)\u003cbr\u003eThis play takes its name from the Japanese word for dressed carcasses of beef and pork that have been halved along the backbone for meat . It deals with the dignity of being alive as seen through the lives of workers in the meat industry based on interviews and research. It won the Japan Playwrights Association’s 15th New Playwright Award in 2009.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39979908333665,"sku":"9781350278363","price":27.03,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_26990121.jpg?v=1721409403","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781350278363-methuen-drama-book-of-contemporary-japanese-plays-the-bacchae-holstein-milk-cows-one-night-isnt-anyone-alive-the-s","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}