The place to start when reviewing this year's highlights in contemporary Japanese theater, has to be The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. That day led to a nation in mourning, an ongoing nuclear crisis and an awakening among dramatists, who saw the importance of their role to stimulate debate and spread ideas and information about societal issues.
Coming after decades of theater creators using their work to agonize over personal and interpersonal societal angst, this was a seismic shift of sorts — one that reflects distrust in politicians, bureaucrats, top academics, captains of industry and the media, as events surrounding the nuclear crisis brought about a stream of confusion and exposed discrepancies, untruths and incompetence.
In the immediate aftermath of March 11, many theaters shut their doors — some out of respect for the victims, others for safety or energy-saving reasons. Away from their daily treadmill, dramatists had the time to question the value of their work in such a time of need.