Suteru Tabi

In Japanese, suteru means “rid oneself of” and tabi “journey” or “occasion”. Suterutabi is the moving story of a young man who is trying to cope with the death of his father. The mental journey of farewell leads to a rebirth; out of the loss and mourning he becomes stronger and succeeds in taking responsibility for his life. With just four chairs and a handful of props, the Japanese author and director Shiro Maeda creates a performance rich in imagery that combines poetry with humour, magic and realism; characters change into trees, man and animal enter into dialogue with each other. Maeda succeeds better than anyone in translating his ideas on life and death into a symbolic and absurd fable that leads the audience into the realm of the imagination.