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The UC Davis Institute for Theatre, Dance and Performance (ITDP) presents “Elements,” a performance piece featuring a cast drawn from the Department of Theatre and Dance’s Ph.D., graduate and undergraduate programs.

”Elements” will be presented in the Arena Theatre of Wright Hall, May 18 at 8 p.m., May 19-20 at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. on May 20. 

“Elements” by Japanese writer/director Shogo Ohta features a number of everyday characters whose paths cross as they roam about the city streets. These ordinary working people act out their lives on a bed of constantly-shifting sand on which they work to keep stable. As the ground under their feet undulates like a wave, unexpected objects such as a ball and nets fall from the sky. The production’s performance space features actual sand.

“Imagine walking on sand in your daily life,” said director Peter Litchenfels, professor of theatre and dance. “It’s a material that slows you down so you do everyday things in extraordinary ways. Imagine living your life at sand-speed.”

Shogo Ohta, a Japanese playwright born in 1939, was as one of a group of directors and playwrights who led a new theatre movement in Japan. He was director of the Tenkei Theatre, artistic director of the Fujisawa Civic Theatre in Kanagawa Prefecture, senior professor at Kinki, chair of the Theatre Department at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and chief editor of its Performing Arts periodical.

The UC Davis ITDP serves as a creative laboratory for our faculty to pursue their creative and scholarly research.

General audience tickets are $8, faculty/staff tickets are $7 and students/seniors tickets are $5.