Academics
"Nippon Wars and Other Plays" provides a unique and fascinating window into the last thirty years of Japan's dynamic theater scene. This collection of plays from renowned Japanese theater artist Takeshi Kawamura gathers together for the first time in English several of his most important plays. "Nippon Wars" and "The Lost Babylon" explore Japan's popular culture during and after the economic bubble of the late 198s and capture the culture's apocalyptic but sublime essence. The intertextual work Hamletclone examines the violent complications and stultifying inertia of contemporary politics. Two of Kawamura's more recent plays, Aoi and Komachi, look at how memories of the past remain in our consciousness. Also included in this collection is the tragedy The White House in the Hills of Argos, where myths of ancient Greece collide with Japan's popular culture. With an introductory essay by a specialist in contemporary Japanese theater, Peter Eckersall, and translations by leading scholars and artists, "Nippon Wars and Other Plays" provides an essential look into Japan's contemporary theater scene.
Takeshi Kawamura is one of Japan's leading playwrights and professor of performing arts at the Kyoto University of Arts and Design. He is the author of over fifty plays, including A Man Called Macbeth and Obsession Site. Peter Eckersall is associate professor of theater studies in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Shoichiro Kawai is a scholar and translator and teaches at the University of Tokyo. Leon Ingulsrud is a theater actor, director, translator, and teacher. Sara Jansen is a researcher, writer, and dramaturge. Aya Ogawa is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, performer, and translator.
Takeshi KawamuraAdd a review
Login to write a review.
Customer questions & answers