Stage Nov 18, 2020
‘Knife’ critiques human nature through mime and dance
Choreographer Shuji Onodera was given total artistic freedom to create his adaption of Guy de Maupassant’s “Boule de Suif” with a multicultural cast.
Nobuko Tanaka
Nobuko Tanaka is a stage writer who has regularly contributed contemporary theater and dance articles to The Japan Times since 2001. She also writes for several Japanese and overseas magazines and web sites. As a promoter, she takes Japanese artists to foreign theater festivals.
For Nobuko Tanaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Stage Oct 22, 2020
Contemporary performing arts festival stays open to new possibilities despite COVID-19
Festival/Tokyo, known for its focus on young artists and edgy productions, has shifted the annual festival's emphasis from live performances to online ones.
Stage Oct 14, 2020
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ conjures dark fantasies
Director Silviu Purcarete reveals the murky and bizarre aspects of humanity in a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy about love and magic.
Stage Sep 11, 2020
'Twelve Angry Men': 1950s courtroom drama about confronting prejudice still rings true
Director Lindsay Posner hopes his staging of “Twelve Angry Men” in Tokyo will make audiences assess how their attitudes affect their perceptions.
Stage Sep 3, 2020
Toyooka Theater Festival brings French flair to Japan’s theater scene
Dramatist Oriza Hirata’s dream of holding Japan’s version of the Avignon Festival is becoming a reality with a two-week arts fete starting on Sept. 9.
Stage Jul 17, 2020
To be (online) or not to be (online), that is the question for Japan's theaters
Two dramatists have opposing views on the theater world’s approach to dealing with the pandemic.
Stage Jul 10, 2020
Live stage performances are taking roads less traveled with trucks and virtual reality
Theater companies are finding new ways to continue live shows for audiences amid the COVID-19 pandemic by performing out of trucks or turning to virtual reality.
Stage Jun 5, 2020
World Theatre Festival Shizuoka heads online in desperate times
By taking a key arts festival online, Satoshi Miyagi is finding ways to ensure that theater survives the pandemic.
Stage May 21, 2020
Japan's acting troupes turn your home into a stage
With the curtains remaining closed at theaters across Japan, some acting troupes are adopting new methods of reaching their audiences.
Stage Mar 27, 2020
Must the show go on during the COVID-19 outbreak?
Responses to the spread of the COVID-19 virus have varied widely from country to country and are changing from day to day. So, while Broadway shows in New York have shut down for at least a month, West End productions in London have been ...