Last month in Berlin, in a conversation with Annemie Vanackere, artistic director at the city's cutting-edge Hebbel am Ufer company, she was saying how she loved contemporary Japanese theater, and how HAU had worked with several Japanese dramatists. Then she suddenly asked me: "Why were they all men? Are there any great women playwrights or directors there?"
While assuring her that women had long been prominent in theater in Japan, back in Tokyo I arranged to meet three rising female dramatists set to present their new works this summer and autumn at Za-Koenji, a major publicly-financed theater in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, to get their take on such matters.
Straight off, Vanackere will surely be pleased to hear that each of these Tokyo-based thirtysomething artists has not only started her own theater company, but they are also aiming to make their mark at home and overseas.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.