The Evangelion Beyond stage play, part of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, will feature an original story set on a devastated Earth. The Evangelion units, operated by 14-year-old pilots and under the command of the Mensch agency, must find a new energy source to save humanity. They face challenges from Ikimono, giant creatures emerging from the ground.
Lead actor Masataka Kubota says the play preserves the core themes of “divinity, humanity, conflict, aggression, destruction, and rebirth” despite the change in setting and characters.
The cast includes:
Masataka Kubota as Sōshi Watamori
Shizuka Ishibashi as Yū Mizuho
Nijirō Murakami as Tan Hasumi
Tetsushi Tanaka as Masatsugu Sugō.
The play will debut in Tokyo’s Kabukicho Tower from May 6-28 and then run in Nagano and Osaka from June 3-19. Belgian director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is directing and choreographing the production, with the script written by Seiji Nozoe. The play is produced by business conglomerate Tokyu and its subsidiary.
The last film in the Evangelion tetralogy, Evangelion: 3.0+1.01: Thrice Upon A Time, opened in Japan in March 2021 and grossed over 10 billion yen. The film was later released on Amazon Prime Video worldwide and in select IMAX theaters in the U.S. It will be released on home video by GKID at a later date.