The L and R Problem is a complex journey through Japanese history, using sounds, clips from documentary films, quotes from various compositions, the playing of live instruments and electronic sounds to ask crucial questions about society, ecology, politics, responsibility and the role of the individual being challenged by all this. It is the second part of an ongoing series of Wake Up From the Brightness dealing with issues related to the Fukushima power plant disaster in 2011.
The title of the performance ironically refers to a typical problem of spoken language – Japanese native speakers very often are not able to clearly differentiate between the pronunciations of ” L” and “R” … That makes “light” (= electricity) and “right”, sound the same.
As a Japanese musician living in Berlin, Manami N. felt the strong need to react to these events in a personal manner but in connection with a number of topics of importance not only for Japanese but for human beings in general and deploying various artistic elements to bring together a multimedia performance with live elements.
Multimedia Performance
- Thurs, June 4, 2015 | 8:45pmMain Stage
Written and Performed by Manami N.