ayaka Murata x Shu Matsui Project inseparable ”KAWARIMI” Based on the story by Sayaka Murata & Shu Matsui Written & Directed by Shu Matsui

INSEPARABLE
KAWARIMI

Based on the story by
Sayaka Murata & Shu Matsui

Written & Directed by
Shu Matsui

Actor
Takenori Kaneko Kazunori Mimura Minyon Ohtsuru
Keisuke Hidaka Mizuho Nojima Wang Hung Yuan
/ Kei Aran

Project inseparable : Based on the plot and concept jointly developed through interviews and creative retreats in Taiwan and Japan, Sayaka Murata (novelist) and Shu Matsui (playwright/stage director/actor) each releases a novel and a theatre production of a fictitious island.
The organic chemical reaction yields two worlds inextricable from each other.
The novel Kawarimi is due to be released 29 November 2019 from Chikumashobo Publishing.

[Synopsis]

Near future world – national government closely regulates human reproduction and encourages genetic engineering to create a superior human race called "design babies". The wealthy enjoy orderly and comfortable living, assured by monitoring and "scoring (evaluation)" by the government.

A remote island Chikuseshima, known as the Galapagos of the East, is bustling with activity like never before. Fossil based DNA called "raregenome" mined on the island is a hot commodity, come under the spotlight as an essential ingredient for genetic engineering for humans and animals.

A resident on the island (Hideaki) loses his brother (Muneo) in a festival. But one day Muneo is resurrected and shows up before Hideaki like a different man. Muneo's resurrection begins derailing lives of not just Hideaki and his wife, but other residents – and eventually turns into an existential crisis for both the island and the human race.

pict-murata PHOTOGRAPH BY SAYO NAGASE
Sayaka Murata

Born in Chiba, 1979. Graduated Tamagawa University, She debuted in 2003 with Junyu (Breastfeeding), which won the Gunzo Prize for new writers. In 2009 she won the Noma Prize for New Writers with Gin iro no uta (Silver Song), and in 2013 the Mishima Yukio Prize for Shiro-oro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City). 
Convenience Store Woman won the 2016 Akutagawa Prize and has been translated into around 30 languages. Her other works include “Mouse”, “Hoshi ga suu mizu (Water for the Stars)”, “Tadaima tobira”, “Chikyu seijin”, “Satsujin shussan”, and “Shometsu sekai (Dwindling World)”.

pict-murata PHOTOGRAPH BY TORU HIRAIWA
Shu Matsui

Born in Tokyo, 1972. In 1996, Matsui joined Oriza Hirata’s theater company Seinendan as an actor, until he set up his own company SAMPLE in 2007. In 2017 he began producing as a solo artist.
He thematizes the complexity of human beings with fictitious expressions mixed with reality. Matsui depicts as "samples" of fast-changing modern society human beings unable to separate truth and lies, and behaving out of character at times. Matsui aims for the atmosphere, words, physical expression of his works to function as "resistance guide for surviving the haphazardness of real world".
Matsui is active in wide range of projects including production, workshops, magazine editor, art festivals and more.
His works have begun to be translated into other languages, including "SHIFT" and "BURNING UP CALORIES" into French and "THE BASEMENT" into Italian and Korean.
His "PROUD SON" has won the 55th Kishida Prize for Drama in 2011. In 2016, "Take-off" was performed at 2016 Kuandu Arts Festival (Taiwan). In 2018, "PROUD SON" was performed at Paris Autumn Festival (France).