ADAMS, MA—The Adams Theater will present NYC based Japanese theater maker, performer, animator, and visual artist Maiko Kikuchi’s “Note From a Sheep I Met at the Dawn,” on September 27 at 7:30 p.m. It’s part puppetry work, part performance art, all focused on the boundaries between dreams and reality, and finding a way to bring our daydreams to life.
Tickets, which range from $20-$35, are available at www.adamstheater.org/events. This is the second of the theater’s three-part puppetry series this season; the third, “Feral,” by Sandglass Theater, takes place Oct. 18.)
Maiko Kikuchi has been studying this phenomenon for years through her theater, puppetry and installation practice. Her works are visible daydreams, the extension of a world inside her mind; “Note From a Sheep I Met at the Dawn” will take audiences through six vignettes where surrealistic worlds are created, inspired by diary-like narrations. Using props and ordinary materials, she transforms the neutral space into an immersive installation of visible daydreams, inviting viewers to ponder the delicate boundary between reality and dreams.
She said she finds herself pressed up against this boundary often, leaving her home and wondering what it would be like if a school on the corner of the block was just gone one day, replaced by a giant hole. “I’m really into creating something familiar but also imaginary,” she said. “There’s this feeling of excitement, but a little bit of terror. If my reality slightly changes, what will happen?” she said.
Kikuchi’s work led her to puppetry for a way to more deeply interpret the surreal. Her puppets are at times arresting, giant faces that turn humans into magical others, clothed in everyday outfits or interacting with everyday objects. “A puppet is more than a prop,” she said. “When you manipulate them onstage, they become something more.”
Kikuchi has spent time in the past working on “Note from a Sheep I Met at the Dawn” and other works in various other residency settings, including at LaMama Experimental Theater Club in New York. “I last did this show in a gallery setting, and I’m excited to take it from gallery to theater, and develop it into a full-length show,” she said.
Kikuchi said she wants to blur the boundaries between mediums, too; visual art and theater come together in her works. In “Note From a Sheep I Met at the Dawn,” she’ll build an installation for each vignette in the show. “I want people to feel a mix of different feelings through each medium, through each piece,” she said. “It’s exciting to reflect and share those feelings with them.”
More about Maiko Kikuchi
After receiving her B.A. in Theater Arts and Fashion Design from Musashino Art University in 2008, and M.F.A. in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2012, Kikuchi’s desire to broaden the expression of her daydreams led her to the theatre field in 2013. Her puppet theatre works have been produced or presented at The Puppet Lab, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Dixon Place, the Public Theater, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has presented her visual art work in both solo and group exhibitions nationwide, creating animations for musicians, theatre companies and cultural organizations. Kikuchi is one of four curators of Object Movement Puppetry Residency and a board member of Puppetry Guild of Greater New York. Her recent project in collaboration with Spencer Lott at the Japan Society, “9000 Paper Balloons,” reflected on Kikuchi’s family history in Japan in relation to World War II. Hollywood Soapbox said of the work, “the puppetry and animation allow for Kikuchi and Lott to tell this story of their family’s histories in a most powerful way.”
Reserve tickets and see our full season lineup at www.adamstheater.org/events.
The Adams Theater is proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program, in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program, and the Mass Health Connector.
EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders receive free admission to our shows and events by presenting their cards at our Box Office. See the complete list of participating organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.
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About The Adams Theater
The Adams Theater’s mission is to create a long-lasting multi media arts institution that fosters community engagement through a diverse range of programming. Collaborating extensively with independent artists and other cultural organizations in the Berkshires, the Adams Theater celebrates creative partnerships and promotes cultural dialogues. Learn more at www.adamstheater.org.