The Japan Times Interviews Theater Commons Tokyo's Chiaki Soma!

The Japan Times conducted an interview with Chiaki Soma, founder of the Theater Commons Tokyo festival. After being suddenly laid off from her job as program director at the Festival/Tokyo, Soma decided she wanted to create a more accessible, grass-roots theatrical experience, and founded the Arts Commons Tokyo (ACT) in 2014.

From the Arts Commons Tokyo sprouted Theater Commons Tokyo, a festival first offered in 2017 to present multi-media theatrical lectures and workshops that combine performance with education. This year's festival features nine such programs.

When asked about the state of theatre in Japan, Soma remarked, "It has become more and more conservative, and the mainstream theater world has grown more stagnant, so I want to break out of this sluggishness by helping to foster a style of theater that works directly and deeply on each person... And though our movement so far is a very small step, one day I want to run a theater that has that new kind of mission."

The Theater Commons Tokyo is open now, and runs through March 11th.

For more information, please visit http://theatercommons.tokyo/en/.