Stranger things have happened, and in the near future a vibrant cultural bridge across Eurasia may be built between the city of Shizuoka in the beautiful foothills of Mount Fuji, and ancient Avignon in the artists' mecca of Provence in the South of France.
If that bridge comes into being, its foundations will be both political and personal — and its traffic will comprise theater in all shapes, styles and languages.
That's because the annual Avignon Festival spanning three weeks in July has, since it started in 1947, become one of the world's blue-chip drama magnets despite being far from Paris, where almost everything of note in the French arts world takes place.