Category: English

Categories
Contemporary dance English English subtitles Japanese tradition Theater Visual arts

Autumn meteorites, 2026 edition

From October 9 to November 1st, the second edition of Autumn Meteorites will take place in Tokyo Metropolitan Theater. Over a month, 13 works from Japan to Spain, including Germany and Russia, from contemporary dance to theater and noh, will be performed in Ikebukuro.
Most of the plays will be accessible in English, either as original language or as subtitled pieces. I will strive to discover Japanese actors and performers subtitled in English, and to discover an a modern noh in English.
The site is not yet translated, link will be updated to English version as it will be available.

Below is a list of some of the works

  • The blue moon of Memphis, noh in English, with Japanese subtitles
  • Junko Emoto, The theater I wanted to watch when I was sad in the middle of the night, Japanese theatre with English subtitles
    
Anacharsis Ramos, My mother and money, in Spanish, English and Japanese subtitles
  • Christopher Reubing, A very strong desire, a play from Sarah Caine, German, tablets with Japanese and English subtitles
  • Dadalz, Theatre, Japanese with English subtitles
  • Nadia Bougray, Contemporary dance, Burning girls
  • Gay Idol Circles, Nijigumi Fights, Dance, performance, some English subtitles, 3 hours show
  • Ergonomic embryo, Performance, Media Art,
  • Recalling S, Theatrical version, Installation, Japanese, English subtitles
  • The white room, Theatre, non verbal, from Russia
Categories
English English subtitles Theater

Sliding away – a play of zombies who would like to make a movie

Sliding away, Okada Tokichi

In apocalyptic times, monsters bloom. They become the symbol of the crisis and dance with us to the sound of doom, such as zombies. Human-like, yet soulless mutated beings mutated. Series like “The Last of Us” or “The Walking Dead” give impressive testimony to our ongoing fascination with the undead life.

The Japanese writer and director Toshiki Okada takes a reverse stance in his new play, Sliding away : What if we are the problem, and not the zombies ? Who decides what is normal and entitled to exist? And do zombies really have no soul? Five zombies explore a counter-narrative with the aim of correcting the man-made exterior image. And how could it be better than with a zombie movie? A movie “with zombies, from zombies, for zombies”! On the set of this shoot, which does not really want to get underway, a double-bodied, absurd and clever dialogue about representation and (in)humanity emerges, which has the potential to become a zombie comedy.

Sliding away, the latest work of productive playwright and director Toshiki Okada, will be played at Tokyo Metropolitan Theater from August 7 to 23. The play will be subtitled in English – one more reason for all of us to discover the new creation of a leading figure in the Tokyo scene.
As a hint, do not hesitate to book by phone. TMT website needs pre-registration, is mainly in Japanese, and the on-line booking adds a booking and website fee.

For other shows in the summer, check here

Categories
Contemporary dance Dance English Japanese tradition Theater

Journey to world nostalgia – hybrid dance theater in Shimokita

Theater Dance


Mixing theater, dance, Japanese tradition (with a Noh actor, a Japanese traditional Buyoh dancer and Japanese shakuhachi flute) and urban culture (including a Parkour artist and a rapper/percussionist), Journey to world nostalgia has all the features of a total spectacle and performance. Performed in multiple languages – remember Drive my car ? – and pushed by action and performance, the spectacle can be fully enjoyed by non Japanese speakers.

Director, writer, and choreographer Hiroshi Koike (小池博史) presents the world premiere of his new dance-theater
work, (世界望郷の旅), at The Suzunari in Shimokitazawa from 18 to 24 June 2026. Reinterpreting the Japanese folk tale of the Snow Woman (Yuki-onna) through a near-future lens, the work follows artificial humans engineered with implanted artificial memories and a built-in mechanism to die by 25. The moment they discover love, awaken to death and cry out for a life of their own, the
system begins to glitch. What follows is an epic of crime, punishment, and a nostalgia for a world they have never truly known.

For tickets, go here.

Categories
Circus English

Circus duet from Canada

In the heart of the summer, from July 21st to July 23, refresh mind and body in Theater Tram. Two Canadian circus artists, unconstrained by physical size or gender, switch roles and ask the question, “What does fairness really mean?” Questioning N.Ormes, an acrobatic performance for adults and children alike.

Categories
English Theater

Love beyond, a play in English and Sign Language

KAAT is inviting us to see Love beyond, a play in English / Sign language about vanishing memories and communication, by a Scottish company and one deaf actor. This very moving piece from Glasgow received many positive critics (in English here). From June 12 to June 14 in Yokohama.

Categories
English Theater

Lemons lemons lemons (+2)

Boy meets girl at a pet funeral, and they fall in love. Sounds easy, but they live in a world where people are entitled to spend 140 words a day. Better than letters ! Tokyo International Player will bring Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner to Tokyo stages from February 12 to February 15. Reflecting on communication, language, resource scarcity, conveying emotions, this play looks challenging and fun, in a world where we are overwhelmed by so many messages and sollicitations. TIP is one of the few English speaking companies continuously operating in Tokyo, and that is a great opportunity to enjoy a good play for non Japanese speakers – if they had a choice of 140 good plays in English to see per year, they would be delighted, and so would we.
Some hints on the play from the Guardian
– Review on 2023 performance
– Lemons made a ballet

For other theater plays and Tokyo performing arts shows in Q1 2026, check here.

Categories
English Theater

Yasmina Reza’s ART in Tokyo

From March 25 to April 5, Sheepdog Theatre will stage Art, Yasmina Reza’s play which made us laugh so much. How a white and expensive painting can break friendships ? We might remember the great film adaptation starring Fabrice Lucchini, Pierre Arditi and Pierre Vaneck, or have seen the play in Paris or elsewhere. The Tokyo based company is bringing the play to the capital. As we remember the excellent The effect, we will be looking forward to this new rendition of Reza’s most famous work for the stages. An opportunity to check how it sends in English !

For other theater plays and performing arts shows in Q1 2026, check here.
And for a review of my favorite performances of past 2025, check there.

Categories
English Theater

The nosebleed

Aya Ogawa

From November 20 to 24. Written by Japanese/American playwright and performer Aya Ogawa, this works written and performed in English has been created in New York in 2021 and toured the US before being presented in Tokyo. It is a story about failures, and broken relationships, with comical feature. Subtitled in Japanese. A great opportunity to see an American/Japanese play in English in one of Tokyo major theatres. Aya Ogawa started writing around 2003 and her bibliography counts over 10 works, from Serendipity to the Meat Suit, including a revisited Ophelia. A director, writer and actor, keen on decentering classical works from the male point of view, Aya Ogawa has also translated theater, including works from Toshiki Okada and Sakate, major names in the contemporary Japanese scene.

https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/productions/drama/the-nosebleed.html

And all recommended shows from October to December

Categories
Circus Contemporary dance English English subtitles Theater

YPAM 25 theatre highlights

On October 1st, YPAM program was released, with its 3 main branches, YPAM Fringe, YPAM Direction and Yokohama Dance Collection. Some plays and shows stand out, among the many offerings – some related to witches and ghosts, and all the below plays are available with English surtitles, accessible to non Japanese speakers. Below are 8 interesting theater plays with English surtitles or in English, and one Circus performance.

Full model change, a dark comedy exploring life in a competitive society where happiness is a measurable commodity, everyone being forced to chase their own “happiness score.”, Nov.28-30, Theater, English sub.
The game, for chess lovers and haters – At Cafe Pawn, regular customers are always playing chess.One day, a married couple comes in.After her husband breaks up with her, the wife becomes addicted to chess, Dec. 3-7, Theater, English sub.
Dadda, Inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “The Spider’s Thread,” this work delves into the essence of circus as an art of limits: gravity, centrifugal force, precarious balance, and circular motion. Circus, Dec. 5-7
Radiant / Three thousand, based on Dylan Thomas “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” and Nankichi Niimi “Hikaru”, this theatrical work reflects on life and death, and the long, radiant, and vanishing flow of time that leads to the present, Dec 6-21, English/Japanese and Engl.subtitles
Mr. Day Dreamer Hamlet Machine, based on Heiner Mueller incredible work, Dec.7-9, Japanese with English sub.
The Ego and His Loss, inspired by a real event, tells the tragedy which develops between an immigrant Vietnamese woman and a man who was a victim of the frozen era, not having found a permanent job when the bubble burst. By a company based in Osaka. Dec.8-9, Japanese with English surtitles.
No one’s rite based on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which captures the disturbing frenzy and irrational outcomes of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, this play takes place in the meeting room of a video production company. Four “female” employees engage in seemingly cheerful yet deeply insular conversations, Dec 11-14, Japanese, English sub.
The Japanese rite of meeting a ghost, will conduct a traditional Japanese ritual of spirit invocation. “Genzo” is a theatrical series dedicated to exploring expressions of fear on stage. This production will be performed in English, Dec 12-14
Zazi-Zoo Contemporary Counterfeit Theater, a new performance by the energetic Zazi.Zoo energetic and passionate theatre collective from Tokyo, an experience in an intimate transformed garage, in Yokohama, with English surtitles.
Girls Double Bill “Which Witch” & “MAMA”, from a theater series exploring the theme of female metamorphosis. ‘MAMA’ depicts the issues and myths surrounding modern mother-daughter relationships using the form of Noh theater. ‘Which Witch’ dramatizes the metamorphosis of women in medieval European witch hunts and modern Japanese capitalist society in a picnic-style. Dec 13-14, in Japanese only.

Dance pieces to be screened later ! And do not forget to look for free performances, on-the-spot shows and various installations.

Other spectacles in the last quarter of 2025 : Tokyo stages from October to December

Categories
Dance English English subtitles Theater

K-EX kicks off on Oct/4

Kyoto Experiment will spread over October, from 4th to 26th. It will features theater plays and performance in English, Spanish, and other languages, mostly with English (and Japanese) subtitles. To name a few,

Multiple bad things, an horrific comedy in English will tackle the subject of the worst worplace at the end of the world (Australia), on Oct. 4 and 5.
Fragments of Tuah will deconstruct/reconstruct a hero from the Malacca sultanate, in 15th century Malaysia, through the evolution of his image (in Malay, English, and with surtitles).

In Japanese with English surtitles, Performing the cemetery by Jun Tsutsui, from a military cemetery will focus on the individual stories of the buried soldiers,
while Tennis (stage version) from Takuya Murakawa will address alternative realities on a staged tennis court, from October 9 to 13.

You will also have the chance to assist to a performance on the history of power outages in Lebanon, a show in Spanish, dance works from akakilike, a staged reading of Dans la mesure de l’impossible from Tiago Rodrigues, in Japanese, following as we remember its wonderful performance in French in Shizuoka and first readings in SPT, and so much more.

For recommended performances in September, and October/December, click on the associated links.