Mononoke

Mononoke. It’s the Japanese name given to spirits that take up residence in people and implant curses. Takako, an ironmongery saleswoman, has been afflicted by one of those. She sells iron kettles made with centuries-old Japanese craftsmanship. In the evenings, she puts an iron egg in her tea water. After finishing her tea, she has sex with the egg, still warm from the hot water. And although this feels good, Takako has an uneasy sense that something is wrong. A fortune-teller reveals what is tormenting her. She is haunted by a curse cast on her when her father disappeared at the time she got her first period. What follows is Takako’s attempt to free herself from everything that was thrust upon her without her consent. It’s the start of a surreal heroine’s journey through a world populated by gods, dolls, and hardware, by ancient myths and endless sales pitches.The Japanese author and director Satoko Ichihara is one of the leading voices of a new, feminist generation of theatre makers. In 2020, she won the Kishida Kunio Drama Award, Japan’s most prestigious theatre prize. With a sharp, unerring eye, she dissects the mundane and monstrous impositions of everyday life, focusing on bodies that claim their ground in a world that both shapes and exploits bodies to cast them away.Ichiara invited Berlin-based South Korean artist Mire Lee to create the set design for her first production at Volksbühne. Lee’s lifelike sculptures are usually showcased in museums. In team with costume designer Belle Santos, Ichihara draws on traditional Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre to create a modern-day interpretation of bodies fused with puppets, flesh growing from iron, and gods you’d better not anger.

Artists/Collaborators: Gro Swantje Kohlhof (mit), Rosa Lembeck (mit), Julia Riedler (mit), River Roux (mit), Youka Snell (Live-Musik), Gwentsche Kollewijn (Puppenspiel), Akira Schroth (Puppenspiel), Maria Vittoria Zinoni (Puppenspiel), Satoko Ichihara (Text, Regie), Otone Sato (Übersetzung aus dem Japanischen), Mire Lee (Bühne), Belle Santos (Kostüm, Puppendesign), Kevin Sock (Licht), Adam Kaplan (Videodesign), Youka Snell (Komposition, Sounddesign), Ville Haimala (Entwicklung der Stimme von Monoprix / Erzähler), Sebastian Kawanami-Breu (Probendolmetscher), Helena Eckert (Dramaturgie), Lara Weidemann (Regieassistenz), Hyeonsu Jung (Bühnenbildassistenz), Jasmin Knitter (Kostümassistenz), Maria Bergel (Inspizienz), Elisabeth Zumpe (Soufflage), Jannes Radewald (Regiehospitanz), Maïa Godin Hadji-Lazaro (Dramaturgiehospitanz), Sofía Loose Martínez de Castro (Bühnenbildhospitanz), Daniel Timmler (Kostümhospitanz)

Next date:

• Date Saturday, 03/October/2026 19:30 ( 3 more dates )
• Venue Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz - Großes Haus
• Address Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, 10178 Berlin-Mitte