Two years ago, Shintaro Mori made his directorial debut at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, with a minimalist production of Samuel Beckett's absurdist masterpiece "Waiting for Godot." Now, at age 37, he's back there at the helm of probably one of the West's first-ever plays with an openly gay theme — the rarely staged classic, "Edward II," by Christopher Marlowe (1564-93).

As one of Japan's foremost young dramatists, Mori has already — mostly with Tokyo's eclectic Theatre Company En — directed across a remarkably wide range, including works by the acclaimed British/Irish playwright Martin McDonagh ("The Lonesome West," "A Skull in Connemara"), Bertolt Brecht's "Life of Galileo" and an adaptation of the kabuki ghost play "Yotsuya Kaidan." With his own company, Monaka Kogyo, he's also put on several new works by Japanese playwrights.

Even so, tackling the maelstrom of emotions swirling through "Edward II" must rank as a great career challenge for Mori. So, to explore his thoughts on the play and how to stage it, I sat down for a chat with the director just a few days before the Oct. 8 opening night.