GANSAKU SAKURA NO MORI NO MANKAI NO SHITA (Under the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom) PLAYHOUSE <STAFF> Written and directed by : Hideki Noda Set Designer : Yukio Horio Lighting Designer : Ikuo Ogawa Costume Designer : Kozue Hibino Selection of Music / Sound Effect / Assistant to Stage Director : Yukio Takatsu   Hairstayling and Make-up : Katsunobu Takahashi Assistant Director : Kazumi Itoh Stage Manager : Susumu Hirota Artistic Director : Tamiya Kuriyama Presented by : New National Theatre, Tokyo <CAST> Shin'ichi Tsutsumi Eri Fukatsu Arata Furuta Kotomi Kyono Masato Irie Hideki Noda Koji Okura Inuko Inuyama Yoshiyoshi Arakawa Daisuke Miyagawa Satoshi Hirasawa Asuka Kurosawa Hiroki Tochi Ai Kaneko Ryouka Kawabata Akira Matsushita Masayoshi Matsushima Mizuho Shumon Yomeko Sumiyoshi Keita Shirai Mika Ishimura Maho Asakawa Kyoko Miyashita Ippei Kanie Naoko Fukuju <PERFORMANCES> June 2001 Fri. 1 Sat. 2 Sun. 3 Tue. 5 Wed. 6 Thu. 7 Fri. 8 Sat. 9 Sun. 10 matinée   1:00pm 1:00pm   2:00pm     1:00pm 1:00pm evening 7:00pm 6:00pm   7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm 6:00pm   June 2001 Tue. 12 Wed. 13 Thu. 14 Fri. 15 Sat. 16 Sun. 17 Tue. 19 Wed. 20 Thu. 21 matinée   2:00pm     1:00pm 1:00pm   2:00pm   evening 7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm 6:00pm   7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm June 2001 Fri. 22 Sat. 23 Sun. 24 Tue. 26 Wed. 27 Thu. 28 Sat. 29 Sun. 30 matinée   1:00pm 1:00pm   2:00pm     1:00pm evening 7:00pm 6:00pm   7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm 7:00pm   There will be no performances on Monday 4, Monday 11, Monday 18 and Monday 25. Doors will open 60 minutes before the start of each performance. <ADVANCE TICKETS> Available from Saturday 28 April, 2001 at 10:00am. To order tickets, please call +81-3-5352-9999 (10:00am-6:00pm). Internet ticket reservation available through the following Websites.(Japanese only) http://t.pia.co.jp/ http://eee.eplus.co.jp/ <TICKET PRICES> Type Seat S Seat A Seat B Price ¥7,350 ¥5,250 ¥3,150 Seat Z(¥1,500) is sold only on the performance day at the Box Office and a part of Ticket Pia Offices. Any Human Being Will Stray into the Woods of Madness ... Hideki Noda builds his own world of drama and is constantly taking the lead in theatrical circles. "Gansaku Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita" (An Imitative Version of "Under the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom") was written by Noda for the theater company, Yume no Yuminsha, which he was running at that time. The play is based on "Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita" (Under the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom) and "Yonaga Hime to Mimi O" (Long Night Princess and the Ear Man) by Ango Sakaguchi whom Noda loves and respects. The play's première in 1989 and its repeat performance in 1992 evoked an overwhelming response, and it has been cited as one of Noda's plays for which enthusiastic calls for replay are particularly high. The forthcoming performance of "Gansaku Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita" will be a contemporary remake, an idea that Noda himself has long had in mind, and will be reborn as a more refined version full of outstanding and original ideas for the New National Theatre, Tokyo. The play will be the work of first-class staff members brought together with many talented actors and actresses. The curtain will rise, for the first time in nine years, on this long-awaited drama of fantasy and madness in which cherry blossoms flutter about so beautiful that they are at once frighteningly fascinating and breathtaking. Mimi O(Ear Man), a disciple of a master sculptor in Hida Province, is ordered to carve an image of Buddha for Yonaga Hime (Long Night Princess) and Hayane Hime (Early-to-Bed Princess), both princesses of a royal family in the province. Manako, a bandit, and Ooama, who conceals his identity, are chosen as competitors of Mimi O. Three years are given for the three to carry out the order. They start to perform their work in their respective workshops but no progress is made at all. Days go by and the designated deadline eventually comes but ... The story, which develops without being restricted by time and space, is full of dramatically interesting elements, which include a unique setting where human beings and demons can coexist and share the world in which they live. The grand scale on which the playwright highlights the ancient power struggle -- which led to the formation of a unified state -- through the Jinshin Turbulence (Civil War of 672) which was initiated by the man who would later become the Emperor Tenmu, is a rich world of imagination spun by the exchange of words.