Towa Mura is a profound international collaboration between writer Tom Pow, the musicians of The Galloway Agreement from South West Scotland, and the acclaimed Bird Theatre from Tottori, Japan. Drawing on shared experiences of rural life and depopulation, the work intertwines poetry, theatre, and music to tell a local and universal story.
The play is a rich combination of Scottish and Japanese culture, combining Tom Pow’s poetic writing, Makoto Nakashima’s direction (Bird Theatre), three Japanese and one Scottish actor (Bird Theatre / Matthew Zajac), and the five musicians of The Galloway Agreement: Wendy Stewart (clarsach, vocals), Ruth Morris (nyckelharpa), Gavin Marwick (fiddle), Stuart Macpherson (double bass), and Beth Porter (cello, vocals, ukulele).
Bird Theatre operates in a rural context in Japan’s least populated prefecture, a place which has many parallels with rural D&G. It faces the same challenges, the same reasons people choose to stay, leave, or arrive.
Based on Tom Pow’s research extending over ten years, Towa Mura looks at the dilemmas communities face, the human impact of rural depopulation and the decline of communities.
Towa Mura is performed in English and Japanese with surtitle captions. The 2pm performance will be fully captioned, 7:30pm Japanese to English Translations.
Presented as part of the Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival. Supported by The Japan Foundation, Creative Scotland, British Council, and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
Gig Bus available, book here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ticketshop/iframe/event.php?eventhash=e-xpjdka&target=