WEBZINE ACC

#1 I’m Going to Bury the Moon!

This is Andrée Poulin’s book with a certain poetic flair, Burying the Moon. The story of children living in a small town in India without toilets is recreated into a children’s theater piece I’m Going to Bury the Moon! by the group Iyagi Yangdongi.

The play I’m Going to Bury the Moon! is a story of children living in a society that does not guarantee human rights and women’s rights in particular. When children’s pure souls encounter the dangerous and unstable environment created by unjust traditions, what kind of wounds will their souls sustain? Indeed, the creator of this piece, Iyagi Yangdongi, gave much thought to this aspect of the story. The story, however, does not stop here; the discussion is not limited to the world but how one goes about changing it.

“Iyagi Yangdongi” is a creative group formed by artists who love children and stories. The group’s focus is to create performances that bring the qualities of play and theater onstage. In particular, it emphasizes communication between creators and audiences. Thus, the group asks the children to see how problems that are “there by nature” are, in fact, not, and how they can, with great bravery, find the solutions to the problems that they have identified.

I’m Going to Bury the Moon! tells each of its stories in individual scenes—storytellers weaving the stories into the traditional arts of the Indian Subcontinent. In a striking scene, Latika finally picks up a pickaxe on that “field of shame.” This reflects how the group wanted to show Latika expressing her voice with agency. The goal, after all, is to show how we can speak out with the voices in our hearts rather than keeping them in.

The protagonist of this story is Latika, a girl who waits until sundown to go to the toilet. The women in the village do not have the freedom to relieve themselves in the daytime and must instead wait until darkness to take care of their natural functions in the “field of shame.” Latika’s angry. She is angry that she has to tiptoe to the field to take care of her business; she’s angry at that fat, plump moon lighting the field around her. Why does that moon have to reveal her at her shameful moment? What could make this young girl think, “I’m going to bury the moon!”

Violation of children’s rights is a common problem seen in developing countries. Nearly half the world lives without a proper restroom in their house, and it seems that Andrée Poulin, the writer of this story, wanted to elucidate that social problem with her stories.

One day, Latika tells the engineer, Mr. Samir, that the village needs a toilet. Her friends, however, tell her that she shouldn’t say such shameful things. Is it so shameful to demand these things? Latika does not give up. Rather than trying to bury the moon, the source of her fear every night, she decides to take on the job of the engineer herself and build the toilet.

The play I’m Going to Bury the Moon! uses motifs from Indian culture and movements to paint a nuanced depiction of culture and environment in the Indian Subcontinent, and through the character, Latika, shows how young children can improve their surroundings with their own agency. The story also shows how Latika listens to her friends and, at the same time, keeps sight of her own rights and how to protect them with self-confidence.

#2 Red Oni Who Cried

Poster of Red Oni Who Cried

「 It takes a close look to find beauty;
it takes a long look to find loveliness. 」

This is a phrase from poet Na Tae-joo’s Wildflower.
It is a concise and elegant expression of Na’s respect for life and the relations built between different life forms.

How nice would it be to fill the gaze of the world with such warmth as Na’s? If our hearts, unshackled from misunderstanding and prejudices, can reach each other to realize peace, that would be happiness in itself. Take one step closer to the beings around us. You’ll surely find many things that you have not yet thought about. Here’s one performance that can bring a perspective of acceptance as kind as that of nature, as the perspective of poet Na.

We must fight to make friends? How does that even work? But we all stand in the walls we have built for ourselves, fighting between individual and the individual, group and the group, and country and the country. We even resort to war for the benefit of our own country.

The ACC will host a performance called Red Oni Who Cried in ACC PlayHouse at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. from July 16 (Sat.) to 17 (Sun.). The play is based on the book Naita Akaoni by Hamada Hirosuke. Naita Akaoni is a story of a red Oni (a horned ogre from Japanese mythology), who wants to be friends with humans despite being feared by them, and a blue Oni friend. The two Oni try to go down to the village and dispel the misunderstanding that “Oni eat people.” It is a funny adventure tingled with sadness that ensues.

The two Oni kick up fake trouble to persuade the humans, who only believe things they can see. But when the layer of fantasy peels away, one easily sees the innocent minds of children in them. If we creak open the door to our hearts just a bit and recognize differences, maybe we can turn the walls around us into a big wall that embraces everyone, right?

The play asks us to think about how the different beings can overcome misunderstandings to become one in peace. It also expands our perspective on the idea of diversity, which understands and accepts different appearances and cultures.

The theater group “Book of Mysterious Movements” is a creative group founded by two actors, who have remained active in theater and dance, to create a single stage full of diverse movements. The two actors handle everything from playwriting to direction and music, and perhaps because of this, their works feature a sense of unity and completion.

In the play, a red Oni with a rather unusual wish to make human friends puts up a sign to invite the humans to be their friend. The Oni finds a cleaner and hands the cleaner a snack, asking to play. The cleaner, however, becomes scared and runs away.

The red Oni is in tears, and a blue Oni comes to visit. The blue Oni proposes a strange yet creative plan to make friends, just like children, who, despite their differences in appearance, want to be friends with everyone.

Can the two Oni successfully make friends? Can the red Oni break the misunderstanding that the Oni eat humans for breakfast and get a first human friend for itself? This fun and cute adventure invites the audience to a world where they can see the conflicts in their daily lives from a lens of warmth. ※ Oni, おに = Often interpreted as the Korean Dokkaebi.

• 2022.5