Dramatists in their 30s have moved to the forefront of Japanese contemporary theater in recent years. Since 2004, the country's most prestigious theater accolade, the Kishida Drama Award, has gone to thirtysomething playwright/ directors Daisuke Miura, Toshiki Okada and Shiro Maeda. Also, the New National Theatre's current "Do-jidai Series (Same-generation Series)" gives Maeda and two other promising young playwrights, Satoshi Hayafune and Ryuta Horai, the chance to show at the prestigious Tokyo venue with the help of experienced directors Yuko Matsumoto, Akira Shirai and Kuriyama, and veteran actors (rather than the contemporaries these young directors usually employ).

Leading this youthful charge in 2004 was that year's 31-year-old winner of the Kishida Award, Yutaka Kuramochi, with the psycho-mystery drama "One-man Show." Since then, Kuramochi has worked seemingly almost nonstop, mainly as a playwright, but also as a director, both for his theater company, Penguin Pull Pale Piles (PenguinPPP), and others such as AGAME store and Dandan Bueno. This year, he has had new plays opening in April, May, and others to come in June and July. He made time, however, to talk about his work after a recent rehearsal of his company's latest play, "Shinpanin wa Konakatta (A Judge Did Not Come in the End)," which opens next month.

Why did you become a playwright?