Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is excited to present the whimsical world premiere of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!). Written and performed by Julia Izumi, directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy, and produced in partnership with New Georges NYC, the play is inspired by the iconic work of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It will run from May 4 to June 1 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D Street NW.
Akira Kurosawa a prolific and internationally acclaimed Japanese filmmaker whose career spanned over five decades and thirty films that influenced artists of diverse cultures and mediums, including playwright Izumi. Using both the filmmaker’s perspective and her own, along with four company members, and interwoven and form bending theater magic, Izumi shares with audiences a story of how art influences artists centering on two brothers who love movies, and how identity evolves, much like yogurt.
“The idea for this piece came from my long-standing desire to write about Akira Kurosawa. He’s such a celebrated, world-renowned Japanese artist, and as a Japanese-American artist, I felt this strong connection to him. Yet, I knew very little about film as an art form, and therefore, couldn’t fully appreciate why he’s so highly regarded. I found that gap quite intriguing and thought it was worth exploring. I hope the play will strike a chord with audiences, at a time when many of us are exploring our own identity, examining how it influences every aspect of our lives. I hope this play helps people realize that identity is inherently messy, and that’s perfectly okay!” —Julia Izumi
“Julia Izumi is one of the most singular voices in American theater right now—her writing is as intellectually rigorous as it is delightfully absurd, full of wit, and imagination. Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!) is a perfect match for Woolly Mammoth because it challenges form, plays with history and identity, and asks big, unanswerable questions with irreverence and poignancy. Welcome to our final world premiere of the season!” —Maria Manuela Goyanes, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Artistic Director.
“We have loved seeing this play develop since we first read a draft in 2020. In late 2024, we held a workshop with New Georges that included our projection and video designer and an actor to stand in for Julia, who plays double-duty as both playwright and actor in our production. It is inspiring to be able to support such an inventive and joyful play in process. I look forward to seeing it continue to grow, and I cannot wait to share it with our audiences.” —Sonia Fernandez, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Director of New Work.
Visitors of the Tony-Award Winning theater are invited to dive deeper into the themes explored during this production with reinforced programming including:
- Woolly Mammoth will partner with Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company who will perform five historic works by Michio Itō (1892-1961), the pioneering Asian American modern dance choreographer at Woolly.
- Smithsonian Asian Art Museum to present a free film series, Iconic Influences: Kurosawa and Ozu, honoring legendary filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu. The series features free screenings of two cinematic landmark fims, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, accompanied by a live string musician, and Ozu’s Walk Cheerfully. Both include a post-screening conversation.
- For more programming including Herd Happy Hour programming, scroll below.
Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!) runs May 4-June 1, 2025, at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets range from $15-$83, with pay-what-you-will (PWYW) performances May 4 and 6, and a limited number of PWYW tickets starting at $5 for every show. Purchase tickets online.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT & CASTMEMBER
Julia Izumi’s (playwright) works include Regretfully, So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons/WP Theater), miku, and the gods. (ArtsWest), Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea (Rorschach Theatre, Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Best New Play Adaptation), and others. Her work has been developed at MTC, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Berkeley Rep, Portland Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, and more. Honors include the Kerry English Award and KCACTF’s Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award. Former Civilians R&D Group Member and Clubbed Thumb ECWG Member. Current New Dramatists Resident. Current commissions: True Love Productions, MTC/Sloan, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Rep. MFA: Brown University. www.juliaizumi.com
ABOUT THE CAST
Jamar Jones – With roots stemming from both Carolinas, and raised in Virginia, Jamar Jones is a multi-hyphenate creative molded with a Southern sensibility. Formerly a Resident Company Member of PlayMakers Repertory Company, credits include Fat Ham, Much Ado about Nothing, Emma, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Hamlet, and Seattle Rep’s Blues for an Alabama Sky. As a museum theater practitioner, Jamar has collaborated with museums and history-forward institutions, including the International Spy Museum, Museum of the American Revolution, Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, to research, excavate, and share stories from centuries ago, particularly those centering Black American life. This work has even expanded to international collaborations (200 Years of Returns) in Monrovia, Liberia. 2019 RTCC Award- Best Actor in a Play for An Octoroon (TheatreLab). 2022 RTCC Award- Best Lead Performance- Play for Fires in the Mirror (Firehouse Theatre). Television: Law & Order (NBC). UNC at Chapel Hill- M.F.A (Acting). jamarjonesofficial.com.
Ashil Lee (they/he) As a kid, Ashil caught the theater bug playing a series of lovable bugs (Glow-Worm from the giant peach, Cricket from Pinocchio, Charlotte from that web). NYC-based actor, playwright, director, and sex educator. Korean-American, trans nonbinary, child of immigrants, and bestie to microceleb pup, Hux. 2023 Lucille Lortel nominee (Outstanding Ensemble: The Nosebleed). Proud reigning ‘Troll King’ (Clubbed Thumb Holiday Party 2024). Selected acting: The Nosebleed (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, Woolly Mammoth, US Tour), OriGen Story (Clubbed Thumb: Winterworks), Dogville (theatrical premiere, dir.Robert O’Hara). Selected playwriting: Relentless 2024 Semi-Finalist (Me No Know Korean), ‘Pericles: Prince of Tyre’ adapted with Mark Wing-Davey (NYU: Grad Acting), PRELUDE (Rooting for You!), Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writer’s Group (23-24), Pataphysics (with Clare Barron). Selected directing: Coach Coach, US Drag (NYU: MSNR), The Big Pick (Sapphest Festival), Manifest Destiny (LimeFest). Education: NYU Tisch. BFA: Acting, Minor: Youth Mental Health. www.ashillee.com
Lizzy Lewis – A Washington, D.C. native, Lizzy Lewis is excited to be working at Woolly Mammoth. She is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist, working across media in theater, music, and writing. Theater credits include Lydia/Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice at Baltimore Center Stage and Arkansas Repertory Theatre and Lucy in A Christmas Carol at Trinity Repertory Company. An in-progress poetry collection was selected for a Theater and Performance Studies workshop at the University of Chicago, where she performed excerpts of her writing. For the past two decades, she has worked as a professional choral singer and vocalist. Lizzy holds an M.F.A in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep and a B.A. in Comparative Literature (focuses in Music and French Lit.) from the University of Chicago.
Kento Morita is an actor and comedian who appears in the upcoming animated series Get Jiro! and the action RPG Rise of the Ronin. A graduate of The Second City’s Conservatory, The Upright Citizens Brigade’s improv program, and The Barrow Group, he has performed at SF Sketchfest, Asian Comedy Festival, Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, and SketchFest Seattle. Kento created Cyberpunk Live With Kento, a sci-fi comedy talk show featured at UCB, where he also performed as part of the house sketch team Baby Todd. His interactive AI film Moment in Manzanar won Bronze at the 2023 Anthem Awards, and My Daughter Yoshiko, which he co-wrote, received the Zeno Mountain Award at the Miami Film Festival. Originally from the Bay Area and raised between California and Okinawa, Japan, Kento was once the NYU mascot and has been trying to top that gig ever since.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
Aileen Wen McGroddy (director) is a Chinese- and Irish-American theatre director. She is delighted to be helming the world premiere of this play after directing its first workshop in 2018 at the Writing is Live Festival at Brown University. Past work includes: Sisters and Sense and Sensibility (Northern Stage), A Christmas Carol (Trinity Rep); The Chinese Lady (Kitchen Theatre and Geva Theatre Center); Attempts on Her Life (TUTA); Airness (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre); The Late Wedding, The Dumb Waiter, Summer and Smoke, and The Tempest (Brown-Trinity); Kingdom, Cold War Choir Practice, Throwback Island, On The Y-Axis (Writing is Live); The Glass Menagerie, Or,, Dani Girl (Winnipesaukee Playhouse); Ulysses (The Plagiarists). She has developed new work with NYTW, The Bushwick Starr, Clubbed Thumb, NY Classical Theatre, The Yale Drama Prize, and Northern Stage. She is a co-artistic director of TUTA Theatre Chicago, Creative Producer for the Writing is Live Festival at Brown University, and a member of SDC. Fellowships: Roundabout Directors Group, 2050 at NYTW, BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. MFA Directing from Brown-Trinity. AileenWenMcGroddy.com
Rounding out the creative team are: JuanCarlos Contreras, Production Stage Manager; Fe Miranda, Assistant Stage Manager; Venus Gulbranson, Lighting Designer; Misha Kachman, Scenic Designer; Patrick W. Lord, Video and Projection Designer; Tosin Olufolabi, Sound Designer; Camilla Dely, Costume Designer; Sonia Fernandez, Dramaturg.
ACCESSIBILITY DATES
ASL INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, May 24th, 2pm
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, May 17th, 7pm
Audio Described PERFORMANCE: Thursday, May 29th, 8pm
MASK REQUIRED PERFORMANCE: Thursday, May 22nd, 8pm
POST SHOW DISCUSSION: May 14th
PARTNER PROGRAMMING
Smithsonian Asian Art Museum & Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Present: Iconic Influences: Kurosawa and Ozu
A Film Series celebrating Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu
Dates: April 6th, 13th , May 14th 2025
Join us at the Smithsonian Asian Art Museum this spring to honor the legendary filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu. Enjoy FREE screenings of two cinematic landmark films, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Ozu’s Walk Cheerfully, and then stay after to delve deeper with experts and guest artists. After revisiting the films, continue the experience at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for the world premiere of Julia Izumi’s Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live & active cultures!) and stay after the show for a special conversation on May 14th.
Michio Itō – Modern Dance’s Asian American Pioneer: May 17
Washington, DC’s premier modern dance company, Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company, performs five historic gems by the first Asian American modern dance pioneer, Michio Itō (1892-1961). The program includes: Ave Maria (1914), Pizzacati (1916), Tone Poem I and II (1928) and En Bateau (1929).
Itō’s indelible mark spans artistic generations – Martha Graham, Lester Horton and DTSBDC, Artistic Director, Dana Tai Soon Burgess were all influenced by his signature aesthetic.
Burgess sheds insight into the legacy of this fascinating dancer and choreographer, by highlighting selections of work reminiscent of danced haiku, from 1914 thru 1929 which demonstrate his unique movement and his complicated journey. From Itō’s beginnings in Europe and NYC – to his impact on Los Angeles and Hollywood and, ultimately, his incarceration under Executive Order 9022. This modern dance history experience is presented in celebration of Asian American Heritage month.
HERD HAPPY HOUR
Herd Happy Hours are back! Come at 7pm every Thursday during the run to learn more about the show and our slated programming from our Artistic Team. The first 10 people get a free drink so come early! (8th, 15th, 22, 29th)
Community Conversation: April 29
Woolly staff will lead a post-show community conversation in the Workshop– a discussion of the themes and events of the play among audience members. This special opportunity is free and included with your ticket to the show!
Talkbacks: May 16, 25, 31
ABOUT WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY
The Tony Award®-winning Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company creates badass theater that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theaters in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves an essential research and development role within the American theater. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theaters all over the world and have had lasting impacts othe field. Currently co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Kimberly E. Douglas, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy. Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples. Furthermore, the foundation of this city, and most of the original buildings in Washington, DC, were funded by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and built by their hands.
ABOUT NEW GEORGES
New Georges is one of New York City’s premiere “downtown” theater companies. Since 1992, we have advocated for an intergenerational ecosystem of exuberant theatrical minds, furthering fierce new works along with long-term wellbeing, expanding aesthetic boundaries and gender equity in tandem. More than 100 premieres here include OBIE and AUDELCO award winners, Drama Desk and Drama League nominees, as well as first, early, or transformative productions for some of the most acclaimed theatermakers working today. A New Georges play is “weird or weird-ish”: formally inventive, funny, often impossible, maybe messy, encouraged by early emphasis on collaboration, nimble producing models, and the multiple development pathways that support New Georges’ Affiliated Artists, the largest ongoing working community of women+ theater artists in New York City. A pivotal home and launchpad for now two generations of women+ artists, our impact reaches every corner of the culture.
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