Macbeth by the Ninagawa Company will be staged at the Barbican Centre from October 5 to 8*. To mark this occasion, there will be a memorial symposium on the internationally-acclaimed theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, with a focus on his unique Shakespeare productions. (*Presented by the Barbican in association with Thelma Holt, Saitama Arts Foundation and HoriPro, Inc. Co-produced by the Japan Foundation)

The symposium on October 6 will begin with a session featuring world-renowned Shakespearean scholar Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, one of UK's leading theatre critics Michael Billington, theatre director Phillip Breen, who has collaborated with Ninagawa and whose work has been well-received in Japan, and Rosalind Fielding, an up-and-coming scholar working on Shakespeare in Japan. They will consider how Ningawa's productions, which are staged with Japanese cultural interpretations, affected the UK theatre world and re-examine his achievements from a variety of perspectives.

Following this, Kyozo Nakamura, a kabuki onnagata actor who will play one of the witches in the Barbican production of NINAGAWA Macbeth, will speak from his experience performing on stage. He will discuss various topics, including the application of traditional Japanese theatre techniques in performing Shakespeare, the legacy of Ninagawa's body of work, and the relationship between Japanese classical theatre and Shakespeare. Ryuichi Kodama, director of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum and professor at Waseda University, will serve as the interviewer.

Waseda University has a long tradition of research in the humanities rooted in Shakespearean research by Dr. Shoyo Tsubouchi, a Waseda professor who was the first to translate the complete works of Shakespeare into Japanese. Furthermore, Waseda and the University of Birmingham’s world-renowned Shakespeare Institute signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016. This agreement will unite the two institutions to collaborate on more in-depth research into the works of William Shakespeare.

Symposium date & time: October 6, 2017 (Friday), 14:00 – 15:45 (doors open 13:30)

Place: Embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom, 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT

ADMISSION BY INVITATION ONLY (details below)

Language: English (with Japanese interpretation)

For more information about the symposium, contact: kyodo-enpaku@list.waseda.jp

There will be a media briefing session about the symposium (in English) for journalists on October 4 from 12:00 – 13:00 (doors open at 11:45) at the Embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom. To attend the briefing session and/or the symposium, contact the respective universities below with your name, affiliation, and e-mail in advance by 12:00PM on September 28 JST (4:00AM on September 28 BST). For those who cannot attend the briefing session/symposium but are interested in receiving materials, contact Waseda University for details.

Symposium schedule

- 14:00 Opening Remarks

- 14:10 Talk: Ninagawa Remembered

Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Michael Billington, theatre critic

Phillip Breen, theatre and television director

Rosalind Fielding, PhD candidate at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

- 14:55 Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum and Shakespeare

Kotaro Shibata, research associate at Waseda University

- 15:00 Interview: A Kabuki Onnagata and Shakespeare

Kyozo Nakamura, Kabuki actor

Ryuichi Kodama, professor at Waseda University

- 15:40 Closing Remarks

- 16:00 Reception (until 17:00)

Organized by: The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University; and the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Co-organized by: Waseda University (International Office; Collaborative Research Centre for Theatre and Film Arts; Waseda University Top Global University Project Global Japanese Studies Model Unit); Embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom; and the Japan Foundation

Notes to the editors:

Based in Tokyo, Waseda University is one of Japan’s most prestigious private universities with over 700 partner institutions in 86 different countries. It currently hosts over 5,000 international students from 100 countries, which is the highest number in Japan. Waseda offers 7 undergraduate and 13 graduate degree programs in English.

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The University of Birmingham is ranked among the world's top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries. Its Shakespeare Institute is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and is a world-leading centre for research into the life and works of William Shakespeare.