Sayonara

An android recites poems to her owner, the daughter of the man who bought her. The woman is sad and the android recites Japanese, German, and French verses to her to see if she can cheer her up. One is sick and the other is defective. Questions and reflections intersect between the verses that outline what life and death mean for each of them. This happens in Sayonara, a short Japanese play that with its premiere in 2010 marked a milestone by introducing the first android actress.

The female android, a very human-like looking robot, is capable of speaking and showing feelings through gestures and tone of voice. His body is jointed and has a skin-like texture, but he cannot walk. She is part of the cast of the play along with human actors Makiko Murata and Yozo Shimada.

The work is a joint work of the prominent playwright and director Oriza Hirata, from the Japanese company Seinendan, together with Hiroshi Ishiguro, creator of Geminoid-F and then head of the Advanced Telecommunications Laboratory of Japan. For this work Ishiguro won the National Prize for Science and Technology awarded by the Japanese Ministry of Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

This work that seeks to create bridges between science and art is a co-production of the Seinendan company, the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and the Robot Theater Project of Osaka University.

Those attending the performance at 8:30 p.m. on March 23 will be able to participate in the Art and Robotics discussion that will take place after the play. The playwright and director of the production himself, Oriza Hirata, will be in conversation with simultaneous Japanese-Spanish translation.

Sponsor: Embassy of Japan