13th [Tue.] 10:00 - 11:30 / Tokyo International Forum, Hall D1 Director : UCHINO Tadashi [Theater critic] As a result of improvement in the public funding system, Japanese contemporary theater of late has developed a great variety of aspects. What exactly is happening? Recent productions ranging from orthodox plays presented at the New National Theatre to works at small venues by the emerging generation all seem to be extremely ‘closed’, while at the same time they are quite ‘open’. This will be an attempt to briefly portray the Japanese contemporary theater scene by focusing on contemporaneousness of ‘small-scale theaters’, using the concept of ‘J’ which stands for ‘Japan’ and ‘Junk’. Companies to be introduced: © IIDA Kenki / ST Spot Chelfitsch Chelfitsch is a theater unit run by OKADA Toshiki who writes and directs all its works. Founded in 1997, the unit always has been based in Yokohama. Its hyper-real dialogues in Japanese delivered in a mundane and lazy manner are worth noting. Chelfitsch won the 49th Kishida Kunio Drama Award this February for the play 5 Days in March, and it will also appear in the final review stage at the Toyota Choreography Award 2005 in July. ARICA This theater unit was founded in 2001 by director and designer FUJITA Yasuki, performer ANDO Tomoko, and creative director MAEDA Keizo. Collaborating with composer and musician SARUYAMA Osamu, poet and photo critic KURAISHI Shino, graphic designer YAMAGUCHI Nobuhiro, textile designer ANDO Yoko, and others, ARICA has caused a sensation in the field creating a new style of performing arts which goes beyond the idea of ‘theatre’. Image Opera A performing arts unit that consists of WAKIKAWA Kairi, the director and a butoh dancer, AYAHARA Eri, a designer/composition builder, NOZAWA Hideyo and SAGARA Yumi, dancers, and others. Established in 2003, taking part in Heiner Muller International Theater Festival (Tokyo). Regarding the performing space as a field where various signs (language, dance, etc.) negotiate and interact, they are pursuing total and fundamental space-time. Potudo-ru Potudo-ru is a theater unit formed in December 1996, led by MIURA Daisuke who was the 10th term member of Waseda University Engeki Club. Its intensely ‘hyper-realistic’ works force the audience to feel the overwhelming vividness and discomfort, and has caused sensation at every production. Recently, the unit is expected to be active not only in the field of “theater”, but also in the “film” business. Major works include “Knight Club” and “Shintai-kensa (Physical Examination)”. “Jericho” © Hirano Ai Chiten Full-time director MIURA Motoi leads Chiten, a company actors and staff which embodies his distinctive theatre world. Reputed for carefully interpreting the text while placing emphasis on the nature of the body to create a unique theatre. Works include “The Three Sisters” (written by Anton CHEKHOV), “Jericho” (written by MATSUDA Masataka), and others. They have moved base to Kyoto this year to increase their activities. “Tokyo/absence/ Hamlet” © Hikiji Nobuhiko Yuenchi Saisei Jigyo-dan Yuenchi Saisei Jigyo-dan is a production unit formed by MIYAZAWA Akio who began to be involved in theatre activities in the mid ‘80s, aiming to stage a production of “Yuenchi Saisei” in 1990. After winning the Kishida Kunio Drama Award for its second play “Hinemi”, the unit began its full activities, producing more than 10 stage productions, each time inviting different actors to suit each play. Following a 3-year break, the unit began a second phase in 2003. “passion” © YUBIWA Hotel 2004 YUBIWA Hotel YUBIWA Hotel is a “continuum of works” with the playwright and director HITSUJIYA Shirotama at its center. It has presented flexible productions which make full use of unique spaces including clubs, restaurants, and tennis courts. Its highly original and “independent” orientation, with its female-only cast, emphasis on nudity and violence, consideration of nutrition and performances overseas, YUBIWA Hotel is sweeping through the current theater scene. • Director : UCHINO Tadashi Born in 1957, UCHINO is a professor at University of Tokyo, specializing in performance studies. Books written include “Melodramatic Revenge: 1980s and Theater of the Private, and From Melodrama to Performance ? 20th Century American Drama”. He has written literary comments and theater reviews in magazines including “Butai Geijutsu (Theater Arts)”, “The Book Review Press”, and “CUT IN”, while serving as a contributing editor for an academic performance studies journal “TDR” (MIT Press, US).