Satsuki Sakurai and the Blade of Broken Bonds @ playGround25

Mari Wilson-Higuchi is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

UPDATE:

Thank you all so much for your donations! Our original goal of 350$ was met in under a week, so we've increased it to 550$. These extra funds, and any raised beyond the new goal, will be used to cover a limited run of Satsuki Sakurai and the Blade of Broken Bonds in Toronto in the summer of 2025, and will be used to cover our North Bay and Toronto Fringe applications.

"No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.

SYNOPSIS:

Satsuki Sakurai and the Blade of Broken Bonds follows Satsuki Sakurai, a 21-year-old Japanese-Canadian woman, as she attempts to navigate the early years of her adulthood. Unfortunately for her, things go awry. Her recently deceased grandmother arrives from the spirit realm to deliver her a cursed blade. This blade has been passed down matrilineally for centuries, and now it's Satsuki's turn to carry that weight. The blade yearns for the broken bonds of lost loves, which means Satsuki's gonna have to face her exes one final time. Will she prevail over her old flames? Or will the blade's curse take over? Find out in Satsuki Sakurai and the Blade of Broken Bonds @ York University's 2025 playGround festival!

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Hello! We are Mari Wilson-Higuchi and Nick Moss, the co-creators of SS & BBB and we'd like to thank you very much for checking out our GoFundMe! We have a very barebones budget for the show as it stands currently, which has put limitations on our prop, costume and sound design teams. We will use the acquired funds to alleviate some of those limitations and to explore the traditional Japanese aesthetics that inform our show in the first place.

Thank you very much for reading, and if you do take the time to donate, know that we greatly appreciate it. Your funds will help bring this show to life.

All donors will have their names added to a 'Special Thanks' section in the final program.

FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN:

40% of funds raised will go directly to building the titular Blade of Broken Bonds, as we are building it completely from scratch and we'd like for it to be as showstopping as possible.

40% will go to our costume department, as we are starting from scratch and looking to acquire traditional Japanese garments and footwear, such as: きもの (kimono),下駄 (geta) & 草履 (zori). These are all pictured below.

The final 20% of our funding will go toward sourcing authentic 拍子木 (hyōshigi) from Japan to be used live, which will viscerally augment and dynamize our sound design, bringing it closer to the more traditional styles of Japanese theatre. This is also pictured below.

きもの (kimono):