We are delighted to announce the 2026/2027 Drama Season at the New National Theatre Tokyo.

7 Productions in Total

• The Master and Margarita
• The Minotaur's Plate New Play
• Nachtland Japan Premiere
• The Invisible Hand Japan Premiere
• Ruined Japan Premiere
• The Grace of Our Being New Play
• Angels in America
  

Project

• Devised Play Development Initiative
  
• Green Revival Lab
  

Message from Satoshi Kamimura, Incoming Artistic Director of Drama

1.Contemporary, international and critical works
Whatever the works might be--a brand new work, or a classic or modern play--we will aim to create works that meet three criteria: contemporary works highlighting concerns to be addressed, international works focused on global standards and critical works fulfilling the role of theatre in society.

2.Crossover works linking to other genres (music, dance, literature, manga, film, etc.)
In order to further develop new methods of expression, we aim to create works intentionally crafted to interact with other genres.

3.Encountering new talents
In order to develop the next generation of theatre, we aim to be a place where performers and staff can introduce new talent and offer a place for interaction and exchange.

4.Performances that go beyond consumption
By prioritising materials and resources suitable for long-term use when constructing theatre spaces and devising reusable performance formats, we hope to achieve performing arts that contribute to society and will not simply vanish when the final curtain falls.

Based on the four points above, my first season as Artistic Director will open with The Master and Margarita. Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece is performed in Edward Kemp's stage version, which adapts the novel and reimagines its protagonist, the Master, as a playwright rather than a novelist. This full-length novel is often deemed fantastical, but it shows how the performing arts must challenge authority from the famous line "Manuscripts don't burn". Staged at the Playhouse, it focuses on themes of societal good and evil. This spectacular play is the perfect opening work for an unforgettable season. I am pleased to be directing the November performances of this work as the new Artistic Director.

In December, we will bring you The Minotaur's Plate, a crossover work featuring various genres. Based on the short manga from Fujiko F Fujio and performed under the direction of Takuro Suzuki leading the CHAiroiPLIN Dance Company, it uses dance and film to address issues of food and ethics such as what it means to consume life. Enjoyable for children as young as four years old, this production is a creation intended for a wide range of audiences.

From March 2027, we will offer a lineup of four plays that are contemporary, international and critical. In March, we will perform Nachtland from Marius von Mayenburg, a contemporary German playwright. This will be a satirical family-themed play addressing rising trends of right-wing populism, such as anti-immigrant nativism in economically developed countries. This effective work of satire also features many humorous scenes. It will be directed by Akinori Yaginuma. In April, we will bring you Ayad Akhtar's masterpiece, The Invisible Hand, the story of an American banker kidnapped by an Islamic State-like terrorist organisation. Based on the theme of monetary transactions, it offers a suspenseful depiction of fragmentation glimpsed from the world economy. Then in May, we will present the Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Ruined. This is a sensational story based on the real-life situations of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play strongly criticises a still male-dominated society, but also depicts the women's lives with a powerful touch of humour. It is directed by Marie Gonohe, who is highly acclaimed for The Lower Depths and Der Besuch der alten Dame at the NNTT. In June, we will perform The Grace of Our Being, a new work written by Kana Yamada about choosing life or death. Revolving around a conflict between a mother and a daughter, it is a powerful story about how life begins and ends that develops with a mixture of Japanese and international perspectives.

In July, we will perform Angels in America, a work that will live on after the final curtain falls, or in other words, a work with effective resource usage in line with social sustainability. This production is based on the version previously performed at the NNTT, but it also uses portions of the set design from the previously performed Leopoldstadt and The White Guard (both from set designer Masahiro Norimine), and features changes to the stage layout from the first performances in 2023. Great effort has also gone into analogue methods when creating this work, such as the performers' acting and staff members' ideas. The stage layout and set design for this work will also be kept as is for our Green Revival Lab, in which one work performed in each season through 2030 will be long-form or a double bill.

In addition to the works described above, we are also launching Drama Quest--a project discovering and examining theatrical movements and new play formats gaining attention around the world--and hoping to provide opportunities for everyone to experience current theatre in various forms such as discussion and reading events.

To realise "encountering new talents", in the 2027/2028 season we will perform works from publicly recruited playwrights aiming for new styles of creation. Previously, new works at the New National Theatre Tokyo by Japanese playwrights were generally commissioned by the Artistic Director. On the other hand, most new works of Japanese theatre are generally created by theatre companies. The collaborative spirit of theatre creation ensures high quality, which it is fair to say supports and sustains Japanese theatre. In order to develop these kinds of collaborative creation possibilities at places like the New National Theatre Tokyo, we are also starting a new project inviting interested playwrights, selecting the cast of performers for their works entirely through auditions, and performing these new works through collaborative creation. We are aiming to start performances in April 2028, but we will consider the initial steps for this creative process, and announce more details in the first half of this year (2026).

The theatre is also a place formed by interaction and exchange between people. To further encourage such interaction, we will be holding Theatre Day for selected productions in the play division, on a trial basis, offering tickets at lower prices to encourage more people to experience theatre. We are currently still discussing the details, but we hope to make the theatre experience more vibrant through efforts such as offering a wider range of prices and making some days more affordable.

Finally, it's fair to say that compared to Europe, the history of the artistic director system in Japanese public theatre is still developing. However, the many national theatres across Europe are also closely connected to their respective cultures, lifestyles, linguistic sensibilities and history, with each country possessing its own unique identity. Some national theatres offer a reliable lineup of diverse works from ancient classics to contemporary plays, while others highlight the artistic director's personality and change their offerings dramatically with each new appointment.

In Japan, what is the role of a national theatre in contemporary drama? I hope that we can consider both the development of international society and contemporary Japanese society as we clarify our concept in response to this question. In order to do so, I will make every effort to responsibly oversee an environment where both creators and the overall theatre where audiences gather can enjoy psychological and physical freedom. I look forward to a wonderful season together with you all.