Theater News

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Miki Nakatani to Perform US Premiere of The Hunting Gun

The stage adaptation of Yasushi Inoue’s Japanese novella will be performed at Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Miki Nakatani will perform the US premiere of The Hunting Gun.
Mikhail Baryshnikov and Miki Nakatani will perform the US premiere of The Hunting Gun.
(Photos provided by Michelle Tabnick PR)

Yasushi Inoue's The Hunting Gun, presented by Emanuela Barilla, will have its US premiere March 16-April 15, 2023 at Baryshnikov Arts Center in Midtown, Manhattan. Adapted for the stage by Serge Lamothe and directed by François Girard, The Hunting Gun is a two-hander starring Japanese actor and singer Miki Nakatani as Shoko, Midori, and Saiko; and iconic ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as Josuke Misugi.

The Hunting Gun was originally published as a Japanese novella in 1949, and is described as follows: "Josuke Misugi receives three letters from different women: his wife, his mistress and her daughter. The first is from young Shoko, who just discovered her mother's affair through the reading of her diary. The second is from his wife Midori, revealing she's known about the infidelity from the start. And the third is a farewell from Saiko, his lover of thirteen years: 'By the time you read this, I will no longer be among the living.'"

Lamothe's stage adaptation is a monologue for three voices, and a single actor embodies all three women. The increasingly tormented hunter Josuke Misugi, meanwhile, cleans his gun behind a scrim presenting fragments of letters.

The creative team includes sets by François Séguin, lighting by David Finn, costumes by Renée April, and music by Alexander MacSween. The show is produced by Cath Brittan, with creative producers David Finn and François Girard, and co-producer Misaki Mouri.