←Recommendations of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures!)

Wacky, deep, and timely, this is a beautiful onion (excuse me, yogurt-based parfait) of a play that contains an incredible amount of layers in its 64 pages. A biopic of Kurosawa on the surface, the core of this play is about cultures (live and active!), identities, and the ways in which we consume art.

A romp through form and feeling that'll leave you deeply moved.

What is the point of art? There's no answer to this big question, but "Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures!)" provides several possibilities. I love this play and how it manages to be thought-provoking, poignant, and wildly funny. I would love to see a full production.

A strange, fast, hilarious, American comedy that manages to touch on everything from the immigrant experience to the ethics of media consumption to seeing your non-Artist family as artists. It asks you to look at it, and yourself, for what it is, for as long as you can. Absolutely worth a read (and its upcoming world premiere). The Yogurt of it all!

Really funny and experimental. Part Kurosawa biopic, part semi-autobiography, part rhapsody on the marvels of yogurt, Izumi creates a play that is intricately constructed, with the zany uncertainty of an improv comedy. This must be incredible to watch onstage.

Wildly funny and theatrically turbulent, without ever diverting from its exploration of how cultural exchange shapes and warps identity. Izumi's play is deeply personal, while also leaving ample space for the viewpoints of future performers and audiences. The gonzo construction of the play keeps the pace moving quickly while still digging into some incredibly thorny topics – and, to Izumi's credit, she follows Kurasawa's advice and never averts her eye.

This delightful work touches on a lot of things: cultural identity, appropriation, the struggles of the children of immigrants to understand their parents, the ineffable struggle to talk about art, and much more, all wrapped in a playfully experimental package. I loved the use of audience interaction and actors breaking character, creating a space for collective healing.

Julia Izumi never ceases to surprise me with their work. A beautiful meditation on art, identity and processing grief.

Getting to encounter this play at OPC was a pure delight, in addition to being a rigorous dissection/deconstruction of identity. The play made me laugh so hard when reading it on the page -- but watching it performed made me laugh harder than any other play I can remember in years. It's brilliantly constructed by drawing a parallel between the consumption of yogurt and films (as culture), then does another mirror effect between Akira and the playwright in a deeply personal and affecting way. Can't wait to see this play fully produced.