Artists in Korea, Japan, China launch joint theater project for 2011 Japan quake victims

SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- Artists from South Korea, Japan and China have collaborated on a rare theater play project revolving around the tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern province in March 2011, organizers said Monday. The play titled "Celebration/Impression" tells the story of an ill-fated Japanese man and his would-be Korean bride, both of whom are killed by the disaster while having a party with their families and friends on the eve of their wedding day. During a press conference held in Seoul on Monday to promote the project, Koji Hasegawa, who directed the play, said he started planning the play about a month after the disaster. "We Japanese theatrical people were greatly shocked at the March 11, 2011 tragedy, and lost words because we never experienced a catastrophe like this kind before," said the general artistic director of the Aomori Prefectural Art Museum. Hasegawa said he later happened to meet some surviving victims of the disaster who confessed their guilty feelings and decided to make a new play that deals with the people's story. "I thought making people deeply rethink even small stories of individual victims was the prime duty of artists. Economy or ideology can never heal their broken hearts. And I thought it would be a great message to them if we say, 'I'm always here with you'." For the play, Hasegawa as well as Japanese actors and actresses operating in the country's northeastern region worked in collaboration with actors, dancers, musicians and photographers from Japan's Asian neighbors -- South Korea and China. Co-hosted by the Japan Foundation affiliated with Tokyo's foreign ministry, the play is scheduled to premier in Japan's Aomori Province on Oct. 11-13 and then tour around five major cities in South Korea and China and two other Japanese cities until Dec. 1. South Korean actress Kim Seon-hwa and Japanese actor Kazunari Aizawa will play the female and male leads while Chinese actress Li Dan will play the Chinese professor who teaches at the college the couple attends. sshim@yna.co.kr (END)