"Whenever I am creating a new play here at Setagaya Public Theatre, I aim for something that's as universal as all those kyōgen (traditional comic theater) or noh classics that are as vivid now as when they were first staged 600 years ago. If it isn't like that, it won't reach an international audience, and I always have it in mind to take my work outside Japan."
When he talks like that, it's clear what high — and far-reaching — targets Mansai Nomura, the artistic director of Setagaya Public Theatre (SEPT), sets himself even despite his unrelenting, madly busy creative and performing schedule.
This time, he's tilting to create no less than an original version of "Don Quixote" — of which he says, "Everybody knows the outline of Miguel de Cervantes' story, but I don't think many people know the details. So I thought I could use the famous character of that half-senile, paranoid but courageous knight to describe the pitiable condition of today's crooked world. That's much more interesting than just having a hero going around trying to punish wrongdoing."