About the Play:

after the quake is a full-length drama adapted for the stage by Frank Galati from a book of interconnected short stories by one of Japan's most highly regarded writers, Haruki Murakami. In this adaptation of the short stories Honey Pie, in which a man tells bedtime stories to the young daughter of the woman he secretly loves, and Superfrog Saves Tokyo, in which a giant frog does indeed save Tokyo, Tony Award–winning director Frank Galati has fashioned a tender and inventive adaptation of these tales that follow the lives of characters struggling earth-shaking disaster.

after the quake is a gentle tale of life in the wake of the aftermath of the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, that nearly destroyed the city. Junpei is a timid writer who enchants Sayoko, the love of his life, by conjuring up whimsical bedtime stories of a six foot frog's fight to save Tokyo to soothe the anguish of her young daughter Sala, a girl who is having nightmares of the Earthquake Man. A talking bear makes the very best honey pies, and Katagiri, a bank loans officer, struggles to distinguish between what is real and what is not when six-foot Frog asks for help to fight off giant Worm for the future of Tokyo. In this poignant play, we see that a storyteller can't dispel the world's woes, but he can teach a child – and himself – how to face fear. Rich in dreamlike imagery and haunting in its evocation of survival in the wake of terrible disaster, after the quake makes masterful use of storytelling to reveal and explore our primal fears.

after the quake premiered in 2005 at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre before additional regional exposure in 2007 at La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and in 2010 at The Cultch in Vancouver.

Cast: 2 female, 3 male

What people say:

"Both resonant and evocative of the fissions of our age." — Variety

"A cleverly woven one-act meditation on human powerlessness…timeless and universal." — Talkin' Broadway

"A mesmerizing 100-minute theater piece … filled with plenty of humor and whimsy." — Chicago Sun-Times

"Galati — who marries theater and storytelling in the form of lively, descriptive narration — expertly integrates both tales." — Daily Herald

"The outstanding achievement here is Galati's adaptation: It manages to retain Murakami's lyricism … while bringing it to mesmerizing life for the stage." — Windy City Times

About the Playwright:

Haruki Murakami is the author of over a dozen novels, including The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Sputnik Sweetheart and Kafka on the Shore. His work has been translated into 34 languages, and has received numerous awards, including the Noma Literary Award, Kuwabara Takeo Academic Award and Yomiuri Literary Prize (Japan's equivalent of the Pulitzer).

Frank Galati (1943-2023) was an American director, writer, actor, and teacher. A long-time member of the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, he was winner of Tony Awards for the adaptation and direction of The Grapes of Wrath in 1990, and was nominated for an Oscar for co-adapting The Accidental Tourist for the screen. His long career also included teaching performance study at Northwestern University for nearly 40 years.