MIC! PROJECTOR! ACTION! - Live Benshi Performance

Date
Thursday 20 November 2025

Time
6.30pm Doors open
7.00pm Performance 

Venue
Regent Street Cinema
307 Regent Street
London W1B 2HW

Booking Details
£17.00 per person 

Tickets can be purchesed on the Regent Street Cinema website via the link below. Various concessions are available. 

The Japan Society is delighted to present MIC! PROJECTOR! ACTION!, a special evening of katsuben – the captivating Japanese art of live silent film narration – at the historic Regent Street Cinema, the birthplace of British cinema in the heart of London.

Step back into the “roaring” 1920s when Japanese silent films were not so silent. On stage, benshi – dynamic performers and storytellers – bring the screen to life by voicing every character, narrating the action, and adding dramatic flair in real time.

During Japan’s silent film golden age, benshi were bigger than the stars on the big screen, writing their own scripts interpreting the on-screen action as they wished – turning each screening into a unique theatrical event.

Today, only around 20 benshi remain in Japan. This show, direct from Tokyo, offers a rare opportunity to experience live katsuben in English with excerpts from pioneering Japanese silent films including samurai, drama, comedy, avant-garde and animation. The show will be followed by an audience Q&A session with the narrators.

The event will be filmed in front of the live theatre audience for upcoming episodes of NHK World TV show J-Flicks introducing katsuben to global audiences.

Guy Perryman MBE and Koyata Aso performing in Tokyo

Benshi performers:

Koyata Aso is a legendary benshi who performs in Japanese and English. Debuted at the age of ten at the famous Mokubatei theater in Asakusa, Tokyo, and won the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology award at the speech contest 2003.

Guy Perryman MBE is the morning show host on InterFM in Tokyo, voice actor on games including Metal Gear Solid, the world’s first person to DJ live on board airline flights and performs as benshi on NHK World TV show J-Flicks.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

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