Murakami by the Sea is a full evening length devised work inspired by novels and short stories by Haruki Murakami. Placed within a constantly evolving environment of cardboard and broken tires the production bridges the gap between the genres of visual art, music, theater, and movement. The created world and soundscape of tangible memories, innocent gestures, poignant observations, and emotional interactions washes over the audience and takes them all the way to the serenity of the bottom of the ocean. What real geography is surrounding us and what landscape do we imagine in our stories? How much do we know and care about the world we live in? How do we connect to each other? How does our relationship to other human beings, animals, objects, and the environment shape? What does solitude mean and how can we build a community? How can we remember what is precious to us and how can forgetting make heal our wounds? The work is directed by Tzveta Kassabova with the cast and is shaped by the dramaturges Teresa Kovacs and Sam Aupperlee.

“And then I realized that the deep darkness inside me had vanished. Suddenly. As suddenly as it has come. I raised myself from the sand and, without bothering either to take off my shoes or roll up my cuffs, walked into the surf to let the waves lap at my ankles.”


Director: Tzveta Kassabova
Performers: Pete Dickey, Molly Felsher, Nathan Goldberg,
Lenin Izquierdo, Alexandra Lee, Joel Lingaur, Emerson
Smith, Jalen Steudle, Nicole Denise White
Dramaturg: Sam Aupperlee
Stage Manager: Maddie Vassalo
Assistant Director: Tiara Partsch
Scenic Designer and Performer: Nicole Denise White
Charge Artists/Painters: Nicole Denise White & Beth
Sandmaier
Lighting Designer: William Webster
Costume Designer: Katherine Shrader and Tzveta
Composer/Musical Director: Michael Gould
Additional Music: Michael Wall, ABBA
Board Ops: Mirit Skeen | Liv Morris