In his second work at the Münchner Kammerspiele, Toshiki Okada, one of the most important directors in Asia, connects with one of the most traditional forms of theatre in Japan, Nō theatre. Nō becomes a setting for Okada’s poetic-musical writing and stage practice. He uses this traditional form of theatre to tell stories of modern Japan, a present-day that is more influenced by depression than hope. Put another way, “Nō Theater” is a story told by the ghosts of the past who are still affecting the present. They are the ghosts of the euphoric 1980s’ “bubble economy”, which made people blind to their responsibility for generations to come. They are the ghosts of women disregarded by a male-dominated society and the family politics it was responsible for, women who were creators of a possible future. These are the kind of family politics that have made women’s empowerment as difficult as possible, in denial of the fact that “women’s issues” in an aging society are not only issues that concern women but ones that affect everyone. To put it dramatically, “Nō Theater” tells of a society’s impending suicide – in the hope that it might turn out differently.

The Japanese director and author Toshiki Okada writes plays about a Japan that is shaped by the influences of global capitalism. Bridging tradition and modernity, he unites ordinary situations with a choreographic form that makes the present appear strange. With the actors of the Münchner Kammerspiele he now seeks to adapt the most original form of Japanese theatre: Nō. He will use the classic structure of the Nō theatre and apply it to contemporary Japan. Which unredeemed ghosts are still waiting for their deaths? This is Toshiki Okada’s first production of a new work in Germany.

Translated into German by Andreas Regelsberger.

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