The full casting and creative team have been announced for the UK premiere of Michinari Ozawa’s award-winning Our Cosmic Dust. The production will open at Park Theatre on Monday 2 June and run until Saturday 5 July, with a press night on Friday 6 June.
Our Cosmic Dust follows Shotaro, a curious school boy who sets out on an adventure to find his late father among the stars. His mother, sick with worry, follows him, determined to bring him home. Along their journey, they encounter a kaleidoscope of characters, each with their own stories of love, loss, and the absurdities of life. Amid the poignancy, moments of humour and wonder remind us that even in grief, there’s room for laughter and joy.
Created by award-winning Tokyo writer and director Michinari Ozawa and translated by British-Japanese theatre maker Susan Momoko Hingley, Our Cosmic Dust explores how we find guidance in others and solace in the cosmos – all seen through the wide-eyed perspective of a child.
Naomi Downham, currently Casting Associate at the National Theatre, has cast the production. Returning to Park Theatre after his stage debut in The Garden of Words and recently starring in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is Hiroki Berrecloth in the role of Shotaro. Also returning to Park Theatre after 2016’s The Boys in the Band will be Ian Hallard (The Way Old Friends Do at Birmingham Rep, Adventurous at Jermyn Street Theatre, Closer to Heaven at Above The Stag) as Orion. The cast is completed by Nina Bowers (As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe, Girl on an Altar at The Kiln Theatre and Abbey Theatre, The Henry’s at The Globe Theatre) as Tara, Hari Mackinnon (The Duchess of Malfi at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Father and The Assassin at National Theatre, The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare’s Globe) as Alastair, and Millie Hikasa (Seal Boy with Evol Productions, The Ocean at the End of the Lane with National Theatre Productions, Jack Absolute Flies Again with National Theatre) as Usami, all of whom are making their Park Theatre debuts.
Writer and director Michinari Ozawa and Susan Momoko Hingley, who has adapted and translated the script, will be joined on the creative team by associate director and dramaturg Alexandra Rutter, puppet designer Kayla Teodoro, costume designer and co-set designer Ceci Calf, video designer Eika Shimbo, sound designer Tomohiro Kaburagi, and composer ORENOGRAFFIT. The production is produced by appare co and Momoko Handa.
Michinari Ozawa said, “With this incredible new and diverse London cast, we are exploring the way boundaries arise from the environment we are born into, with different languages and values. As with the Japanese premiere, this cast will work with LED displays, animations and puppetry to create a surprisingly miraculous experience.”
Susan Momoko Hingley added, “Michinari Ozawa is one of the best theatre makers in Japan today and I feel very privileged to translate his beautiful play for a British audience. Our Cosmic Dust is a deeply human, playful and heartfelt story about grief that anyone in the universe can relate to. Together with this brilliant team and cast, I look forward to bringing this show to the Park Theatre audience.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
