Theater
The Buddha in the Attic
A one-act play based on the novel by Julie Otsuka (Solo Theatre)
About this event
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Screenplay author and director – BIRUTĖ MAR
Choreographer, assistant director – SIGITA MIKALAUSKAITĖ
Set designer – INDRĖ PAČĖSAITĖ
Music composed and selected by – ANTANAS KUČINSKAS
Video artist – KAROLIS BRATKAUSKAS
Lighting designer – AUDRIUS JANKAUSKAS
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Cast – BIRUTĖ MAR
Musician – EGIDIJUS ALIŠAUSKAS
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Duration – 1 hour
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Based on the novel "The Buddha in the Attic" by Japanese-American author J. Otsuka, the play tells a sensitive story of early 20th-century emigration. Young Japanese women, believing in promises of a happy life in America, embark on a long journey to marry men they know only from photographs. However, instead of their dreams coming true, they face difficult adaptation, loneliness, and dramatic historical events that changed the fates of thousands of people.
This is a story about women who left their native homes, about national identity, memory, and the human connection to one's roots. The play invites the audience to look at the experience of emigration not just as a history of the past, but as a story relevant today about hope, loss, and the quest to preserve oneself in a foreign world.
The aesthetics of traditional Japanese theatre, dance, movement, text, and live music merge on stage, creating a poetic and visually compelling stage language. It is a sensitive, multi-layered play about human strength, memory, and what remains even when history tries to erase everything.
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Translated from English by Emilija Ferdmanaitė
Japanese texts written by – Rio Kojima, Miyuki Takashina, Fumiyo Ariizumi
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The project is partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture
