KIOSK — New York version

︎21-24, December, 2006
Japan Society, New York, U.S. 

Concept

Since ARICA was founded in 2001, the company has been creating works on the theme of labor. We focus on the basic structure of social business and its developing field, such as Living=House in “Homesickness”, Producing=Factory in “Parachute Woman”, and Selling=Peddler in ”Kawase”. The advanced capitalism system threats our human’s habitats. We attempt to reveal the danger surrounding us through the style of solo performance.

KIOSK features the woman working in the minimum store, called KIOSK that we can see all over the world. KIOSK is still popular in Japanese rail station too, in which we face the huge flow of people and exchanges products and money with reaching our hands through the small gap in space between various items. KIOSK is different from the convenience stores where realizes the extreme contemporary systematic trading. We would like to propose KIOSK as the “trading” space of a unique human habitat, which sometimes looks as if the store itself is physicalized. 

Originally “trading” has been a place, which generates a human significant communication based on barter without money. However the present commercial trading, like vending machines, internet shopping, barcode system, and credit card payment, has made the communication of the sellers and the buyers less and less.

In this situation, we would like to focus on “trading” as a social human communication, and set KOSK on the stage as a strange store selling water and newspapers. 

Structure 

The woman in KIOSK is appeared as a saleswoman, selling product with systematic physical movement. The saleswoman is sitting on the movable chair, and her chest is tied with the two elastic ropes. The one side is connected to the inside of KIOSK, and the other side is connected to the saleswoman herself engaging in her labor by using the rope. Her body synchronizes with the store=KIOSK. Her laboring of “to open the shop and organize the items” is symbolized in the repetition of her systematic movements. It implies the desire of the individual’s social communication through the simple ritualized trading. 

How much the social control system stuck us, we couldn’t stop to desire and hope to live better. While the body compelled and overworked, the movements deviated at some moment, which expresses a sparkle of human life vividly. Here we would like to present the hope, might be too faint but very certain, in any kind of struggles in life.   

DIRECTED BY: Yasuki Fujita
TEXT AND CONCEPT BY : Shino Kuraishi

PERFORMED BY: Tomoko Ando
MUSIC COMPOSED AND PERFORMED BY: Osamu Saruyama  Eijiro Takahashi

STAGE MANAGER: Koro Suzuki 
LIGHTING DESIGNER : Rie Ono
SOUND DESIGNER : Yuichi Tanaka
COSTUME DESIGNER : Yoko Ando
COSTUME CREATOR: Naoya Watabe
PROPS MASTER : Eijiro Takahashi (mechanical devices)  Mitsuru Katsumoto(duster)
VIDEO DESIGNER : Yuri Suyama
PHOTOGRAPHER : Ryuji Miyamoto 
PRODUCER : Keizo Maeda 
PROJECT ASSOCIATE: Hiromi Maruoka

Performance history

26,October, 2017
ATTIKON, Pafos, Republic of Cyprus,
The program in the Monodrama Festival, a part of Pafos2017

14. January. 2010 
New Delhi LTG Auditorium, New Delhi, India (National Theatre Festival, NSD)

︎9-12, October, 2008 
“KIOSK restructured version” TERPSICHORE, Tokyo, Japan 

︎18-20, September, 2008 
Japan Society, New York, U.S.

21-24, December, 2006 
BankART1929 Studio NYK, Yokohama, Japan

︎6-7, October, 2006
Firstly performed as “PAYDAY”, EKOTA Store House (Physical Theatre Festival)