Mononoke

Takako works in sales, selling iron teapots crafted with centuries-old Japanese craftsmanship, and in the evenings she places an egg in her tea water. She drinks the tea and then has sex with the egg, which has been warmed by the water. And even though it feels good, Takako knows that something isn’t right. A fortune-teller reveals to her what is tormenting her: a curse lies upon her—the curse of her father, who disappeared when she got her first period.

What follows is Takako’s attempt to free herself from everything that was thrust upon her without her consent. A surreal heroine’s journey through a world populated by gods, dolls, and ironware, by ancient myths and endless sales pitches.

Japanese author and director Satoko Ichihara is one of the most important voices of a new, feminist generation of theater makers. In 2020, she was awarded the Kishida Kunio Drama Award, Japan’s most prestigious theater prize. She directs with a precise, uncompromising gaze on the banal and monstrous impositions of everyday life, on bodies that must assert themselves in a world that simultaneously shapes, exploits, and discards them.

For her first production at a German theater, Ichihara has invited Berlin-based South Korean artist Mire Lee to serve as set designer; Lee’s fascinating, lifelike sculptures are otherwise typically found in museums. Together with costume designer Belle Santos, Ichihara draws on the Japanese puppet theater tradition of Bunraku and brings it into the present: bodies fused with puppets, flesh growing from iron, and gods best not to anger.

Note: A minimum age of 18 is recommended for attending the performance.