As an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, John Caird may be one of the leading pillars of the English theater establishment, but in a recent interview with The Japan Times, this acclaimed director of plays, musicals and opera declared, "In a sense, some part of me is becoming a little bit Japanese."
Caird, 66, gained a worldwide reputation as co-director with Trevor Nunn of Cameron Mackintosh's 1985 megahit musical "Les Misérables," based on Victor Hugo's epic 1862 novel of the same name about human turmoils in the leadup to a rebellion in Paris 30 years before.
But along with a relentless work schedule, Caird has another life as the father of three teenage children with his Japanese actress wife since 1998, Maoko Imai — children who are "entirely bilingual and bicultural ," he said proudly.