SOIL has been selected for the Cultural and Artistic Activity Infrastructure Enhancement Fund’s “Creator Development & Cultural Facility Value Enhancement Support Program (Creator Development Project Support).” This initiative, led by the Japan Performing Arts Solidarity Network (JPASN), aims to promote Japanese performing arts productions
internationally.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © SOIL

SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
AND
WINTER

WORKS:

Overview:

"Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter is an original work inspired by Owara Kaze no Bon, a traditional festival in Toyama. The characters wear woven hats covering their faces, presenting an anonymous, poetic story through monologue and original dance. It began as a street performance during the 2016 Festival d'Avignon. Enthusiastic audience response encouraged us to use these motifs in a full theatrical work. Drawing inspiration from Simone de Beauvoir’s Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, we decided to create a piece on the life of a woman. Chinese natural philosophy divides life into four stages: Blue Spring (birth to teens), Red Summer (20s to 30s), White Autumn (40s to 60s), and Black Winter (70s and older). The title alludes to these seasons since the story portrays a woman’s life."

Keyword:

  • Nostalgic
  • Philosophical
  • Original
  • Physical Theater
  • Dance
  • Ensemble
  • Bittersweet
  • All Ages
  • Live Performance
  • Life
  • Love

Performing Group:

SETAGAYA-SILK

Genre:

Theatre and dance performance

Status:

All year/ Production・Copyright

Time:

95 min

Dialogue:

Japanese

Subtitle:

ASK

Capacity:

Approx. 80 to 200

Cast:

12

1

Synopsis:

This work traces the life of one woman, Ware.* The story of Ware is portrayed metaphorically through the four seasons.

In Spring, her growth is expressed primarily through dance and physical movement as she encounters friends and teachers.

In Summer, she encounters the many turning points of life: university, employment, marriage, and childbirth. These significant events and her struggles with society are conveyed through poetic monologue and physical expression.

In Autumn, she looks back on her life alongside her mother and childhood friend, and the women share stories of the paths they have each walked. Live painting vividly brings to life the expansiveness of memory and emotion.

In Winter, the protagonist confronts old age and takes on the challenge of climbing Mount Fuji for the first time. Through surreal landscapes, she is supported by the souls of those she has met throughout her life. As she makes her way toward the summit, she overcomes her life's regrets. With lyrical fantasy, the work portrays the full arc of one woman's life through the changing of the seasons.

* The Japanese character for Ware is 我, meaning "I" or "myself." It can also refer to self-will or a strong ego, and in philosophical and religious terms, it can mean "the self."

2

Concept:

The performance is a celebration to women's freedom, portraying women as they navigate hardship and at times the dismay of aging. The story is told in both a beautiful and comical manner. Light is shed on the many ways a woman's life can unfold, and confronts with sincerity, the anxieties of life. It offers a critical lens on how women, who hold within them the potential to become anything, are cast in roles defined by others. It sends encouragement to the many ways women choose to live, and hopes for a society where every woman can freely and comfortably choose her own path. Through this, the work hopes to open the audience's minds to broader ways of thinking.
Onstage, anonymous women continuously shift roles. Using the unique space ma, live painting, rakugo-inspired techniques, and traditional Japanese dance, we invite you into a facinating world.

3

Crew & Cast:

  • HORIKAWA Honoh

    Script / Director / Choreographer / Cast

  • HORIKAWA Honoh

    Director

  • HORIKAWA Honoh

    Choreographer

  • HORIKAWA Honoh

    Cast

  • SATO Yuko

    Cast

  • TAKEI Kimi

    Cast

  • KAKINOHA Nara

    Cast

  • MIYAZAKI Yuri

    Cast

  • SASAKI Miki

    Cast

  • SHINYA Nanami

    Cast

  • ITO Misaki

    Cast

  • SAKURA Hanaho

    Cast

  • SUZUKI Yuka

    Cast

  • NOJIMA Yuna

    Cast

  • MATSUDO Miwa

    Cast

  • DOI Ayumu

    Stage Manager

  • ABE Masayuki(LICHT-ER)

    Lighting Designer

  • SAKUMA Shuichi(POCO)

    Sound Designer

  • SUZUKI Kensuke(Rokushakudo)

    Set Designer

  • Aya

    Costume Designer

  • UMINO Kouyu(Office Ohka)

    Assistant Director

Company Profile:

SETAGAYA-SILK

Described as “art that makes you chuckle” SETAGAYA-SILK's work portrays easily overlooked moments of everyday life and subtle emotions, leaving interpretation to the audience's sensibilities.

Aiming to avoid overexplanation and create meaning with as few words as possible, we focus on the the concept of ma.**

We have staged works in kabuki theatres, ski resorts, and tennis courts as well as arts festivals including Parthenon Tama, the Setouchi Triennale, Oku-Noto Triennale, Toyooka Theatre Festival, and the SCOT Summer Season, earning recognition through ongoing engagement with local communities.

**Ma is a Japanese aesthetic of nothingness within space (location, gap), time (timing, tempo), and relationships (between the self and the other) where new things can be created.

View Website

Open in new tab

Performance Record:

2016

7

Avignon Festival Street Program

2019

2

TPAM Fringe at YCC Yokohama Creative City Center

2022

4

Japan Playwrights Association Program at Za-Koenji 1, (Tokyo)

This Year's Other Works:

CONTACT:

Reach Out to Us

SOIL is a JPASN project dedicated to bringing Japanese theater to the world.
We serve as the liaison for contracts and communications with international partners and actively promote the participation of Japanese productions in overseas theater festivals. If you have any questions or feedback about SOIL,
please feel free to contact us using our contact form.

CONTACT