Stage Feb 5, 2020
Updating 'Romeo and Juliet' in a bid to fight prejudice in Japan
by Nobuko Tanaka
Wishing Chong brings an all-male version of 'Romeo and Juliet,' set in post-war Western Japan, to the stage in Tokyo.
Stage Jan 25, 2020
The art of condensing Shakespeare's oeuvre
by Nobuko Tanaka
Shuntaro Fujita brings "Tempo 12-nen no Shakespeare" to Tokyo, modernising a story that encompases elements from each of the Bard's 37 plays.
World / Politics | FOCUS Mar 26, 2019
Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford mirrors a 'scepter'd isle' riven by Brexit discontent
by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton
In William Shakespeare's ancient birthplace, discontent over Brexit runs even deeper than three years ago when this "scepter'd isle" shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union. The 2016 referendum revealed a United Kingdom divided over much more than EU membership, and has ...
Stage Oct 12, 2017
It's more than 400 years old, but 'Richard III' is just as relevant today
by Nobuko Tanaka
Romanian theater director Silviu Purcarete has staged several plays in this country before, but now he's working with an all-Japanese cast for the first time as he prepares to present his brand-new "Richard III" at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro from Oct. 18 to ...
Film / Reviews May 18, 2016
'Macbeth': What's done is done again
by Kaori Shoji
Few storytellers can match Shakespeare for his vast range of timeless themes and awesome characters. Imagine what the Bard could have accomplished if he had had a laptop and smartphone. Among his works, "Macbeth" — a compelling study of a husband-wife team whose thirst for ...
Music Jan 28, 2016
Opera Theater Konnyakuza perfects a union of stage and song
by Chiho Iuchi
The world of opera has always found inspiration in the works of William Shakespeare, but adapting them for the stage requires flexibility. Kyoko Hagi, a composer who serves as the representative of Opera Theater Konnyakuza, points out that Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi transformed "Macbeth" into ...
Stage Jul 9, 2015
by Nobuko Tanaka
With a piercing yell, Kuranosuke Sasaki bursts out of the rehearsal studio, his hands covered in (fake) blood. Then seeing me, he smiles and says, "Sorry to keep you waiting" — before returning to intensive preparations with American director Andrew Goldberg for his starring ...
Stage Jan 29, 2014
by Mika Eglinton
By popular demand, Shizuoka Performing Arts Center is set to stage a revival of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," its sell-out 2011 production adapted by contemporary theater paragon Hideki Noda and directed by its own artistic diector, Satoshi Miyagi. Back in April 2011, counter to the ...