La mer. Das meer. The Sea. Out of the darkness, hushed voices mimic the murmur of waves, whispering the word for ¡°sea¡± in 36 different languages.
This intricate cascade of sound is the start of ¡°Natasha,¡± a multilayered, multilingual opera that opens Aug. 11 at the New National Theatre, Tokyo (NNTT) in Shinjuku with four performances concluding on Aug. 17.
On the liminal shore of a primordial sea, two displaced youths, Natasha and Arato, meet for the first time. They don¡¯t speak the same language, but they connect through shared suffering. Together, they embark on a journey through the hellish realities of the modern world, guided by Mephisto¡¯s grandson. Seven levels of hell unfold as they travel through environmental destruction, the blight of consumerism and the devastation of war, depicted through distinctly symbolic realms like a barren forest devoid of trees or a chaotic business hell with relentless industry.
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