Click here!

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

The Wind-Up Bird ChroniclePhoto: Stephen Earnhart

Part of EIF 2011

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage and a dramatic revelation of long buried Second World War secrets.

Toru Okada is an unassuming everyman. His cat has disappeared, a seemingly innocuous event that triggers a series of increasingly bizarre encounters. His wife inexplicably vanishes, leading Toru on a search during which he encounters a strange and compelling cast of characters, each with their own intriguing stories. Crossing the boundary between reality and dreams, these interactions open doors to a hallucinatory world charged with sexuality and violence. As the lines between fantasy and reality dissolve, Toru must confront the dark forces that exist inside him to begin to understand the mystery of his life. Read more …

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is adapted from the award-winning novel by Japan's most celebrated writer, Haruki Murakami and directed by Stephen Earnhart, formerly Director of Production for Miramax Films where he oversaw such fi lms as A Rage in Harlem and Hardware. This truly imaginative production, combines performance, music, puppetry, dance and film to create a hypnotic theatre of dreams.

More information on this production is available at eif.co.uk.

The critical consensus

One is impressed by the possibilities of Murakami’s narrative, but perturbed by its uneasy relationship to Earnhart’s insufficiently coherent theatrical aesthetic.

Mark Brown, The Herald, 21/08/2011

Skilful but unsatisfying.

Susannah Clapp, The Observer, 28/08/2011

James Yaegashi’s finely nuanced Toru leads the strongly-talented 14-member US-Japanese cast in this memorably engrossing and richly imaginative production.

Brian G Cooper, The Stage, 30/08/2011


Features about The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Grief encounter

The Herald, 16/08/2011

Stephen Earnhart on The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Claire Prentice, The Telegraph, 18/08/2011

Where and when?

King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Saturday August 20, 2011, until Wednesday August 24, 2011. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube