Mermaid Meat & Other Japanese Ghost Stories
August 28th, 2008 | Published in Mermaid Meat
Brenda Wong Aoki, the foremost narrative voice working in America today.”
Robert Shay, CEO New Line Cinema
… Stories, ancient and new… dominated by women battling the odds with a strength bordering on obsession.”
The Washington Post
The haunting eloquence of Brenda Wong Aoki’s ghost stories masterfully performed in concert with Asian Jazz pioneer Mark Izu and the thunder drums of Japanese Taiko.
Mermaid Meat, the title story in this show, was written by Brenda Wong Aoki based on the Japanese proverb, “Eating the flesh of a mermaid is the secret to eternal youth”. Originally commissioned by Kent Nagano, the conductor of the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra in Germany, the piece was first performed with a symphonic score by Mark Izu. It is a tragic tale of a young girl who feasts on the flesh of a mermaid in order to live forever, the story speaks to our collective fascination with youth and beauty.
Mermaid Meat: the Secret to Immortality and other Japanese Ghost Stories features four powerful tales that explore the dilemmas of life that people around the world have grappled with since the beginning of time.
- Mermaid Meat - A girl eats the flesh of a mermaid and is faced with living forever
- The Bell of Dojoji - The Kabuki tale of a simple maiden transformed by her lust for a monk
- Dancing in California - Last dance of a ballerina in a World War II American Japanese prison camp
- Black Hair - A dead wife’s revenge
