The Water Station

Overview

Water Station was the first of Japanese playwright ?ta Shogo's silent slow-movement plays, which premiered in 1981. Since then it has been performed over 200 times in more than 24 cities across the globe by the original company.

The play shows eighteen travelers momentarily resting at a water faucet while a man living in a junk pile casually observes them. Shogo's play is an attempt to portray human existence through silence, stillness and open space. The play  eradicates language completely, only communicating with music, sounds, lights and physicality.

The play subverts traditional means of gathering meaning, back story, narrative and direction through script and words. In his script preface Shogo explains:

"What was drawn out [from the source materials] became the object of examination in rehearsal. What died was removed; what lived was allowed to flourish. Through the repetition of this scrutiny, the materials themselves lost meaning and faded into oblivion. I understand the process as follows: by using 'indirect delimitations' a way of realization was found, and through the rehearsals a totally different directness was born."

The play is directed by Megan Evans and performed by the Hard Sleeper Theatre Company.