Shun-kin at Freud Playhouse

A mesmerizing mix of original music, Japanese bunraku puppetry and traditional performance, Shun-kin explores the highly-charged erotic connection between a music teacher and her student in 19th-century Japan. This West Coast premiere stars the original cast from prior acclaimed runs in New York and Tokyo -- actors Eri Fukatsu and Yoshi Oida -- and boasts its original director, Simon McBurney of the award-winning British experimental theater company Complicite. Adapted from a short story by famed Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki, the production was called "sublime" and "graceful" by New York critics, and also features original music by Honjo Hidetaro, based on the three-stringed instrument the shamisen. Shun-kin is performed in Japanese with projected English surtitles.