Spending as much time as I do in theaters guarantees that I am treated to some brilliant productions, others that are dire, and plenty in between. However, ones truly astonishing and most "provocative" (to use a key word in drama criticism these days), are naturally not thick on the ground.

Overall, in Japanese theater, 2006 has been rather quiet, with few sensational newcomers, big-budget festivals or newsy happenings. However, there have been several masterpieces, most of them not flashy, but steady and solid -- while being provocative at the same time.

The direction of English playwright Martin McDonagh's "Lonesome West" by Shintaro Mori, a rising talent at the EN theater company, promised great things. Veteran dramatist Hisashi Inoue cleverly presented the atmosphere of mass wartime fanaticism with his new play "Yume no Kasabuta (Scabs of a Dream)." Yukio Ninagawa and Sho Ryuzanji, both struck out in the same new direction, working with amateur senior citizens or senior dramatists and production people as actors.