Ludic Proxy: Fukushima
Meet the Artists
Aya Ogawa (Writer, Performer, Director, Translator) is Tokyo-born, Brooklyn-based. Thier work centers women/non-binary perspectives and utilizes the stage as a space for exploring cultural identity and the immigrant experience. They wrote, directed, and performed in The Nosebleed that was at Japan Society (with The Chocolate Factory Theater) in 2021, Lincoln Center Theater in 2022, and upcoming at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in 2023. Resident playwright, New Dramatists; President’s Award in Performing Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Ludic Proxy was originally commissioned by The Play Company and premiered at Walker Space in April 2015 and was developed as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Process Space, Swing Space and Workspace programs. Support for Ludic Proxy: Fukushima was provided by NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program).
This video adaptation of NYC-based writer/director Aya Ogawa’s play Ludic Proxy follows a woman named Maho, visiting her older sister Maki who lives on the outskirts of the Fukushima nuclear evacuation zone in 2015. Maho functions as the audience’s avatar in the story as she gingerly navigates daily life in their hometown, post-3.11; however, time is of the essence when Maki reveals that she is pregnant. Using video games as a dramaturgy, viewers will be able to choose how Maho progresses through this harrowing set of circumstances through a real-time poll. The line between actual and virtual reality begins to fade in this immersive and dark play that explores human survival in the face of disaster. Streamed with English subtitles.
The live-polling “multi-player” version of this performance is only available at the above dates and times. Ticketholders will be able to participate in all three of the above performances and have access to an on-demand “single player” version, available following the Live Artist Q&A on Mar. 11 until Mar. 25.
Written and Directed by
Aya Ogawa
Voiceover
Jackie Katzman
Stage Manager
Mariko Takizawa
Director of Photography & Lighting Designer
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Editor & Technical Designer
Takaaki Ando
Props Master & Asst. Set Designer
Brian Bernhard
Lighting Associate
Christina Tang
Line Producer
John Del Gaudio