After the Rain designed by Watoku Ueno WATOKU UENO Nominated for the Henry Hewes Design Award Watoku Ueno, Yara’s resident designer, has been nominated for his design of After the Rain, a show he created and designed with Yara Arts Group at La MaMa Experimental Theatre last spring. The show was based on three Japanese stories by Ryonsuke Akutagawa, including “Rashomon.” Kat Chamberlain, reviewer for nytheatre.com, wrote: “Creator Watoku Ueno and the Yara Arts Group have put tremendous thought into the aesthetics of the piece. It opens beautifully, with one of the most original and intriguing set designs I have ever seen. It serves up one surprise after another, from exotic costumes to intricate movements. A combination of music, shadow puppets, projections, and dance, it feels like a theatre version of an art house silent film…” Now Watoku has been nominated for the prestigious Henry Hewes Design Award. The annual awards honor theatre designers for work on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-off-Broadway. Watoku was nominated in the “production design” together with his design team members Makoto Takeuchi and Luba Kierkosz. The Hewes Award committee considered more than 200 productions for the nominations. Other designers nominated include those who worked on Lincoln Center’s South Pacific and Atlantic Theatre’s Trumpery. The Annual Hewes Awards Ceremony is slated for November 14th. " CONGRATULATIONS TO WATOKU UENO! to return home