Tadasi Suzuki Theatre director Date of Birth: 20.06.1939 Country: Japan

1. Tadashi Suzuki: A Theatrical Pioneer
2. The Suzuki Method
3. Artistic Career
4. Toga Arts Park
5. Teaching and Writing

Tadashi Suzuki: A Theatrical Pioneer

Tadashi Suzuki is a Japanese avant-garde theatre director, writer, and philosopher. He is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT) and the organizer of the first international theatre festival in Japan (Toga Festival). Together with American director Anne Bogart, he co-founded the Saratoga International Theatre Institute in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Suzuki Method

Suzuki is the creator of the "Suzuki Method" for actor training, which emphasizes stylized body work and a physical form based on dance and elements of traditional Japanese theatre. He served as the general artistic director of the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) from 1995 to 2007. He is also a member of the international committee of the Theatre Olympics, a founding member of the BeSeTo festival co-organized by leading theatre artists from Japan, China, and Korea, and the chairman of the board of directors of the Japan Performing Arts Network, a nationwide network of theatre professionals in Japan.

Artistic Career

In the early 1960s, Suzuki became involved in the Angura (underground) theatre movement in Japan and founded a theatre company called Waseda Little Theatre, which focused on the physical talents of star actress Kayoko Shiraishi. It was at Waseda Little Theatre that Suzuki began developing the Suzuki Method for actor training.

Suzuki's works include "On Dramatic Passions," "Trojan Women," "Dionysus," "Lear's Vision," "Cyrano de Bergerac," and "Madame de Sade," among others. In addition to directing with his own company, he has led several international collaborations, such as "A Tale of Lear" (1988), co-produced and performed by four leading regional theatres in the United States, many of whose actors had studied with him; "King Lear" with the Moscow Art Theatre; "Oedipus Rex," a co-production of the Cultural Olympiad and Düsseldorf's Schauspielhaus; and "Electra," co-produced by the Ansan Arts Center/Arco Arts Theatre in Korea and the Taganka Theatre in Russia.

Toga Arts Park

In 1976, Suzuki relocated his company from Tokyo to the remote mountain village of Toga. Today, Toga Arts Park includes six theatres, rehearsal halls, offices, dormitories, and restaurants. It continues to host seasons of performances, symposia, workshops, and competitions during the summer and winter.

Teaching and Writing

Suzuki has expounded his theories in a number of books. A collection of his writings in English, "The Way of Acting," has been published by Theatre Communications Group (USA). He has taught his actor training system at schools and theatres worldwide, including the Juilliard School in New York City and the Moscow Art Theatre. Cambridge University Press has published "The Theatre of Tadashi Suzuki" as part of its "Directors in Perspective" series, which features leading theatre directors of the 20th century. The series includes works on Meyerhold, Brecht, Strehler, Peter Brook, and Robert Wilson, among others.