Android-Human Theatre “Sayonara”

Sat 31 Aug 2013, 10 am, 3 pm, 8 pm
Worker’s Theatre

From Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam:

In celebration of the Japan – Vietnam Friendship Year 2013, the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam proudly presents the Android-Human Theatre “Sayonara” in Hanoi on Saturday 31 August 2013.

Internationally acclaimed playwright and director Prof. Oriza Hirata of Osaka University and Seinendan Theatre Company, has been uniquely collaborating with world-renowned robotics specialist Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro Ph. D., also of Osaka University, ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories, in their Android-Human Theatre projects since 2007. Their past plays, in which human actors share the stage with robots, are groundbreaking in arts and sciences.

“Sayonara” [which literally means Good Bye in Japanese] is an innovative short play performed by human actors and a Geminoid F, a humanoid robot that looks exactly like the woman who it was modeled after, developed in 2010 by Prof. Ishiguro’s laboratory.

It was premiered in 2010 at the Aichi Triennale in Japan and since then, it has been staged in a plethora of countries including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the United States, Australia, Korea and Thailand, winning both general and expert’s extremely high applause.

The original play depicts a scene in which a humanoid-robot recites Japanese, French and German poems to her dying young master. In the latest version of the play, however, Playwright Hirata adds a short episode after the young master’s death. After losing her master, the humanoid-robot is assigned to a new task; mourning for the deceased at the place where humans cannot enter.

The play might be simple and short in length (30 min.) but pregnant and deep in meaning, questioning us, “What do life and death mean to humans and robots?” We do hope the audience will enjoy this extraordinary theatrical event not simply by admiring for the humanoid robot’s acting but by being deeply moved by her.

Program

Android-Human Theatre “Sayonara” 30’00’’
Talk by Oriza Hirata on Android-Human Theatre projects 60’00’’

The play will be held three times at 10:00/15:00/20:00 on Saturday 31 August 2013 at Worker’s Theatre (42 Trang Tien, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi), followed by Oriza Hirata’s talk on Android-Human Theatre projects. Both programs will be delivered in Japanese with Vietnamese sub-titles or interpretation.

The admission is free but you are required to get free advanced tickets which will be distributed at the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam (27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi / 04-3944-7419).

Children under 15 years old are not allowed to attend.