Whether he likes it or not, unassuming Keishi Nagatsuka is widely seen as being foremost among the coming generation in Japan's contemporary theater world.
Though the 38-year-old director, actor and playwright began to stand out after founding the Asagaya Spiders company in his early 20s, in 2008 he stepped right off the treadmill and took a year's break in London to study at the National Theatre.
Since then, Nagatsuka's talents have blossomed anew. As well as presenting several works that mix up times and places in surreal ways, he has been rethinking how to further engage his audiences and free — rather than direct — their imaginations. He often uses abstract and almost empty sets, and once created a South American stage for a kabuki play. With his "Macbeth" in Tokyo now, he's boldly opted for a theater-in-the-round — and that's besides this being the first of William Shakespeare's works he's ever tackled.