Bull: The True Story is a layered and concentric theatre-based solo piece by Stacy Makishi with original music by Paul Clark and Gareth Fry.
The piece draws inspiration from the film Fargo. In the film, which begins with “This is a true story”, a big lie about a kidnap instigates a series of extraordinary events, including the burial of a suitcase filled with a million dollar ransom along the border of Fargo,North Dakota; except that the story is a lie.
London Guardian, June 6th 2003, “…a twenty eight year old woman left Tokyo to travel to Fargo. The police spotted her wandering around the outskirts of the state and when they questioned her, she showed them “a crude map” that was supposed to show where the ransom money was hidden in the movie, Fargo. The police said “We tried to explain to her that it was a fictional movie. It wasn’t really true. There really wasn’t any ransom, no $1m hidden in the snow.”
But Takako Konishi could not be deterred from her strange quest. Her frozen body was found in woodland on a road between Fargo and Brainerd, a crumpled map still clenched in her hand.
On July 4th, 1975 the Honolulu Star Bulletin Hawaii reports the brutal kidnapping of an 8 year old girl, Kay Okada.
The missing ‘K(ay)’.
This story is told by a girl named Lucy. Lucy’s father’s name is Lucky. Lucy is almost Lucky, only Lucy with the missing ‘K’. Seven years ago, Lucy’s mother, Pearl, went missing.
Was it kidnap? Was it murder?
All that Lucy has left of her mother is a crumpled map of a place called Fargo, North Dakota.
Bull: The True Story is a powerful fusion of physical theatre, music, film and text. The stage is a battleground between truth and lies; what’s spoken and what’s omitted; what’s fiction and what is documentary.
(45 minutes)
The piece draws inspiration from the film Fargo. In the film, which begins with “This is a true story”, a big lie about a kidnap instigates a series of extraordinary events, including the burial of a suitcase filled with a million dollar ransom along the border of Fargo,North Dakota; except that the story is a lie.
London Guardian, June 6th 2003, “…a twenty eight year old woman left Tokyo to travel to Fargo. The police spotted her wandering around the outskirts of the state and when they questioned her, she showed them “a crude map” that was supposed to show where the ransom money was hidden in the movie, Fargo. The police said “We tried to explain to her that it was a fictional movie. It wasn’t really true. There really wasn’t any ransom, no $1m hidden in the snow.”
But Takako Konishi could not be deterred from her strange quest. Her frozen body was found in woodland on a road between Fargo and Brainerd, a crumpled map still clenched in her hand.
On July 4th, 1975 the Honolulu Star Bulletin Hawaii reports the brutal kidnapping of an 8 year old girl, Kay Okada.
The missing ‘K(ay)’.
This story is told by a girl named Lucy. Lucy’s father’s name is Lucky. Lucy is almost Lucky, only Lucy with the missing ‘K’. Seven years ago, Lucy’s mother, Pearl, went missing.
Was it kidnap? Was it murder?
All that Lucy has left of her mother is a crumpled map of a place called Fargo, North Dakota.
Bull: The True Story is a powerful fusion of physical theatre, music, film and text. The stage is a battleground between truth and lies; what’s spoken and what’s omitted; what’s fiction and what is documentary.
(45 minutes)
