Okazaki Art Theatre is a theatre company created in 2003 by director, Yudai Kamisato, to present his own works. Based in Kanagawa Pref., Japan. The company was named after Kamisato's friend, Seiji Okazaki. At the time of founding the company, Kamisato was borrowing money from Okazaki and so made him the nominal president. Okazaki has no involvement in the company's productions.



What characterizes Kamisato's work is the unique expression he gives to the subject of encounters, and disorientation and friction induced by these encounters; he achieves this without relying on sentiments or an easy sympathy. He has been creating new works constantly, which count over 40 to today. His work continues to evolve dynamically. To put it in film, Kamisato's work reminds us of the films of such directors as Michael Haneke and Takeshi Kitano.

With a belief that theatre is art of the actors, Kamisato pursues unique expressions, which appear through encountering “random/nonsense” physicality of the actors. Kamisato demands his actors to be such collaborators, and many prominent actors have appeared in his work. He extracts movements and language of Japanese ordinary life, caricature and exaggerate them, and or place them in the context of the past theatre form. Kamisato mixes these various approaches freely and has a reputation for such open approach to creation.



In recent years, the company has appeared in Festival/Tokyo, the most prominent theatre festival in Asia, for three consecutive years (coproduction with F/T in 2011, 2012). The production of Hemispherical Red and Black was invited to Taipei Arts Festival 2012 (Taipei). The company aims to reach out to a wider audience beyond Tokyo and Japan, where they performed mostly till now.

Yudai Kamisato

Director, playwright, painter, artistic director of Okazaki Art Theatre

Born 1982, in Lima, Peru.
He formed Okazaki Arts Theatre in 2003 while studying at Waseda University.
His works are marked by its heightened sense of actors' physical presence onstage.He has created over 40 productions.
Received the best director award at Toga Directors Competitions in 2006, with his production, Desire Caught by the Tail by Pablo Picasso. He is the youngest director to receive this award. In 2009, he was nominated for 54th Kishida Kunio Drama Award for his play, Ms. Haircut. He is a junior fellow at the Saison Foundation.
Formed a new performance unit, hatahata, with Momoko Shirakami (choreographer, dancer) in 2009. Apart from directing, he has been creating works as a novelist, a painter, and a poet in recent years.

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Credit

Text, Direction: Yudai Kamisato

Cast: Kimio Taketani, Miho Inatsugu, Taichi Yamagata(chelfitsch)

Stage Design: Yudai Kamisato
Lighting: Yoshiaki Kuroo
Sound: Mai Takahashi
Stage Manager: Eiji Torakawa + Karasuya
Costumes: Ayako Tenjin
Video: Kazuki Watanabe
Photography: Yuta Fukitsuka
Assistant Direction: Masahiko Ono

English Translation: Miwa Monden
Korea Translation: Seunghyo Lee

Production: Takio Okamura(Okamura&company)
Assistant Production: Mai Hyodo

Produced by Okazaki Art Theatre
Co-Produced by Festival/Tokyo
Co-operation from Akio Umeyama, Rei Kumai, Steep Slope Studio

Presented by Okazaki Art Theatre
Co-presented by TPAM in Yokohama 2013

TPAM showcase