The troupe of Eugene Ionesco Theater in concert with Japanese actors will put on a play with original text about Joan of Arc in Romanian and Japanese soon, Info-Prim Neo reports. The new text of the play was written by the great dramatist Matei Visniec at the personal request of the theater’s art director Petru Vutcarau. At a news conference occasioned by the premiere of the play “Ioana si Focul” (“Joan and the Fire”), Petru Vutcarau said that the play is a joint work of the troupe from Moldova and of Kaze Theater Company from Tokyo that wanted to present a new vision of the well-known historical character. To carry out this project, the two theaters will work together at first and will then put on their own productions – the troupe from Moldova a play in Romanian, while the troupe from Tokyo a play in Japanese. Petru Vutcarau says that the idea of staging a play about the French legend appeared several years ago out of the wish to reveal the decency, braveness, heroism and love for the country, things that are perennial and important for educating the young generation. The decision to stage the production was taken after discussing with the colleagues from the only Japanese repertoire theater, Kazi Theater Company, with which they put on two more plays. Attending the news conference, the director of Kaze Theater Yoshinara Sano said that they intended to put on a production with a historical theme and general human values. When the work on “Ioana si Focul” started, he realized that Petru Vutcarau is the best director for implementing the project. He considers Vutcarau one of the five best managing directors in the world that can produce a high quality play, while Eugene Ionesco Theater is one of the most valuable in Europe. Three-four Japanese theater groups want now to cooperate with Petru Vutcarau and his troupe, Yoshinara Sano said. Yoshinara Sano also said that this cooperation would help familiarize the residents of Japan with Moldova’s history, traditions and culture and vice versa, while the friendship between the two peoples would become stronger. Seven Japanese actors are now in Chisinau, rehearsing together with their colleagues from Eugene Ionesco Theater to premier the play in Chisinau. The translation will be projected on the bottom of the stage. After premiered, the play will be divided into two parts – of the Chisinau and of the Tokyo theater companies. The premier of “Ioana si Focul” with the participation of Japanese actors will take place on April 16. In several weeks, the Eugene Ionesco troupe will premiere their own play. The Japanese version will be premiered in August 2009, when Kazi Theater Company will celebrate 20 years.