DRAMA

Royal Court Theatre × New National Theatre, Tokyo Playwrights' Workshop

SCHEDULE

Dates TBD

Presented by New National Theatre, Tokyo
　　　　　　Royal Court Theatre

Co-presented by British Council

DETAILS

The Royal Court Theatre in London, U.K., holds workshops for playwrights around the world. The New National Theatre, Tokyo joined hands with the Royal Court Theatre in bringing these workshops to Japan for the first time.

Young Japanese playwrights participated in workshops led by the Royal Court Theatre's Associate Director, Literary Manager and a British playwright. The participants developed a new play through the three-phased workshop held from May 2019 through February 2021, experimenting with new techniques introduced in the workshops.

[Participants]

Yoshitaka Arikawa 　Bito 　 Saori Chiba 　Junko Go 　Kozue Ito
Tomoko Kotaka 　Shoko Matsumura 　Rena Miyazaki 　Kaori Nishio
Masaya Sakanada 　Ei Sugai 　 Karin Tsuyama 　 Motoharu Yamazaki

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

  • January 2019: Applications open
    • May: Phase 1 ⇒Read the post-Phase 1 interview (Japanese) here
    • December: Phase 2 ⇒Read the post-Phase 2 interview (Japanese) here
  • June 2020: Phase 3-A
    • January 2021: Phase 3-b ⇒Read the post-Phase 3-B interview (Japanese) here



Phase One : May 13 - May 19, 2019

Royal Court's Associate Director Sam Pritchard, Literary Manager Jane Fallowfield and the playwright Alistair McDowall visited Tokyo and facilitated a 7 day long workshop with 14 Japanese playwrights. The workshop was designed for the needs of each writer, explored individual interests, and in the end each writer was asked to propose an outline of a new idea for a contemporary and original play. The first draft of this play was submitted three months after the end of the first workshop. The workshop consisted of group and individual sessions and there was also time for writing.

Phase Two : December 9 - December 15, 2019
The team, predominantly the same, traveled to Japan to work on the plays individually with the writers and did more group work exploring some common problems. This again lasted for 7 days. At the end of this phase, the writers were asked to work on a next draft which were submitted for translation two months after the end of the second workshop.

Phase Three : June 13 - June 21, 2020 (Online Session) / January 12 - January 17, 2021
The team will return for the final phase of development work. The workshop will incorporate actors and each play will be developed through rehearsals. This phase will last for 7 - 10 days, and a reading will take place at the end. At the end of this phase, the writers are given three months to finish the final draft of the play. The plays will then be sent to the UK for English translation.

STAGED PROGRAMME

The plays developed out of the workshops will be staged at the New National Theatre, Tokyo and the Royal Court Theatre.

  • My Month (私の一ヶ月): at the New National Theatre, Tokyo
    Written by SUGAi Ei / Directed by: INABA Kae
    On Stage 2 - 20 November, 2022


    About The Royal Court Theatre

    The Royal Court Theatre is the writers' theatre. It is a leading force in world theatre for cultivating and supporting writers - undiscovered, emerging and established. Through the writers, the Royal Court is at the forefront of creating restless, alert, provocative theatre about now. We open our doors to the unheard voices and free thinkers that, through their writing, change our way of seeing.

    Over 120,000 people visit the Royal Court in Sloane Square, London, each year and many thousands more see our work elsewhere through transfers to the West End and New York, UK and international tours, digital platforms, our residencies across London, and our site-specific work. Through all our work we strive to inspire audiences and influence future writers with radical thinking and provocative discussion. The Royal Court's extensive development activity encompasses a diverse range of writers and artists and includes an ongoing programme of writers' attachments, readings, workshops and playwriting groups.

    Twenty years of the International Department's pioneering work around the world means the Royal Court has relationships with writers on every continent.

    Since 1956 we have commissioned and produced hundreds of writers, from John Osborne to Jasmine Lee-Jones. Royal Court plays from every decade are now performed on stage and taught in classrooms and universities across the globe.

    We're now working to the future and are committed to becoming a carbon net zero arts venue throughout 2020 to ensure we can continue to work for generations of writers and audiences to come.

    It is because of this commitment to the writer and our future that we believe there is no more important theatre in the world than the Royal Court.

    The International Programme at the Royal Court builds and develops the theatre's relationships with writers and artists from around the world. We form long term partnerships with theatre makers and organisations from different traditions, working in different languages and cultural contexts. Our aim is to support writers to bring their practice, dramaturgy and perspective to the work they make with the Royal Court. We host a year round residency programme for international writers at the Royal Court, run long term writers' groups and exchange projects with partners around the world and produce work by international artists on our stages. The Programme also seeks to support the practice of theatre in translation and emerging translators.

    For more information, please visit the websites.

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