Interview with Toshiki Okada / chelfitsch

Can you introduce yourself?

I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was a teenager. I was not interested in theatre at all. But I happen to be a theatre director and a playwright as well.

What is your opinion on the social relevance of theatre?

Theatre encourages the imagination people have. Because it is necessary to experience theatre, in other words, it is necessary to complete theatre in the mind of the audience. And society always needs imagination in order to change itself into something better.

What drives you to be creative?

Complains about myself.

Your previous performances Current Location (2012) and Ground and Floor (2013) are mainly about the conflicts around the earthquake that took place in Japan. Your new performance is based on the same conflicts. In what aspect does Time’s Journey Through a Room differ from your previous work?

I think my previous works which have as a subject the conflicts our society has since the earthquake and the nuclear incident happened, have a kind of bird eye’s view. But this piece doesn’t. It is a big difference.

You have already performed this show in Japan. The conflicts are about living in Japan after the earthquake. Did the Japanese audience understand the conflicts and were they accepted?

I think they understood the conflicts of course. Some of them were accepted. Some of them were not. Some of the audience hated them. I think the issues this piece gives the audience is too much for them. They feel they don’t need such issues anymore. Though I have a different idea.

Why is it interesting to show Japanese conflicts in European theatres?

European audiences don’t have to think about situations in Japan to experience this piece. I am happy if they think about conflicts with which they are familiar.