萩原雄太 | Yuta Hagiwara was raised in Mito, a typical suburb in Japan which suffered “cultural poverty.” In his home, there was no culture- no books, records or arts. His family strove to be “normal” in any sense. When he entered university, his mother said “don’t be involved in the theater and politics because they will ruin your life.” Now what institution gives him a fellowship?
Hagiwara founded his theater company Kamome Machine in 2007. Some of his major works include Waiting for Godot in Fukushima (2011) which is staged on the road of Fukushima after the nuclear power plant accident, and Oregayo (2017) a solo performance which uses the Japanese constitution as a text. During the covid-19 pandemic, he started a series of works named ‘Telephone Theater’ which is one-on-one show of performer and audience on the telephone line. Throughout his career, he has focused on the idea of the public through the performance.
He is currently working on a new project, a theater piece about the Nanjing Massacre, caused by the Japanese Military during WW2. Through this project, he digs into the following questions: “What is the responsibility of the descendant?” and “How do descendants of the perpetrators and victims make new public spheres?”
