Japanese contemporary theatre's response to the disaster in March 2011

The effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 were unparalleled, with thousands of people killed, communities washed away, and the ongoing general unease surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear crisis. Whilst the human cost of the disaster is undeniable, the impact has also greatly affected the performing arts, with established dramatists from across the generations, as well as rising new ones, all responding to the events of March 11th in their work.

Nobuko Tanaka, journalist for The Japan Times, and a widely-published specialist in the field of contemporary Japanese theatre and dance, has been invited by the Japan Foundation to explore how the cataclysmic events in March have shaped very recent Japanese contemporary theatre, and to examine some of the new questions which dramatists and playwrights are now tackling. Looking at works by playwrights such as Tomohiro Maekawa and Akio Miyazawa, she will consider the way contemporary theatre is responding to what is Japan's worst crisis since World War II, sharing with us a perspective on the disaster which we would otherwise never encounter.