The stage director and playwright Mr. SATO Makoto has created a large number of outstanding theatrical productions which combine a contemporary ambience with traditional aesthetic sensibility. In the first part of the lecture, he looked back the history of his work in the discussion with a young Theater Critic. Then Mr. SATO had an interview in the second part of the lecture with Ms. WATANABE Eri who is a playwright, Stage Director and actress.

Reflecting on Mr. Sato’s history of working throughout Asia within historical context, a passionate discussion was held on the situation facing the Asian theater today compared to its past.

According to Mr. Sato, a few decades ago, Asian theater was already doing what is expected by the Japanese theater industry today, and already had an organized system. In his assessment, the term “Asian theater” embodied an attempt to relativize itself to reflect modern theater, however no one openly proclaims that they are practicing “Asian theater nowadays. He showed video to explain how artists throughout Asia have become even more active in different ways by collaborating, visiting and inviting each other to workshops. When he was asked why he began working in Asia, he replied by saying, “I was forced to think about Asia because Japan is without question, located at the eastern edge of Asia. I was also interested in Asia in terms of Japanese involvement in the region and the fact that ‘Asia’ is a term that was not coined by Asian people but decided by someone else to mean ‘non-European.’” Next, Mr. Sato showed a video of his Wakabacho Wharf project and used gestures to explain that theater has the mysterious power to foster communication without words. Finally, Mr. Sato touched on the change of three fundamental values of sharing, networking, and crossing borders. The first session ended with Mr. Sato’s thanking his colleagues, and he mentioned that he wanted to develop a better understanding of the changes occurring in the world today.

The audience was enthralled by the fascinating interview with Ms. Watanabe, who has been writing plays for 40 years. Mr. Sato said that the world of theater is often thought to be glamorous, but in fact, it is something much more realistic and close to people. He told the audience he wanted them to watch at least two plays a year, and Ms. Watanabe quipped, “I could watch plays every day”, which drew laughs from the audience. She continued by saying that one good point about plays is that they cast a spotlight on minorities. She also mentioned that there is no other country that shows various plays as much as Japan does. She said the same play can be performed in many different ways because of the tolerance for diversity in the Japanese theater industry.

However, she also talked about how she accepted the role of president for the Japan Playwrights Association, because she questioned the male dominated industry, and she showcased the vast number of women who are active in theater. Then the conversation switched to behind-the scenes topics, like how performers give everything right up to the last moment. Next, the two turned to the main topic of The Dreams of Theater, Mr. Sato said that he chose the topic based on Ms. Watanabe’s motto, “the power to dream’. Their enthusiastic discussion came to a close with them both in agreement that they want to believe in the power to dream because theater has the ability to unify different ideas into one theme.