The three artistic directors of the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT) have unveiled the opera, ballet and drama lineups for the 2020-21 season.
The opera season will kick off in October with a new production of Britten's fantastic Shakespearean opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which will be followed by the world premiere of "A Dream of Armageddon," a new opera by Dai Fujikura based on a prophetic sci-fi novella by H.G. Wells and commissioned by the NNTT.
Britain-based Fujikura made his name in Japan last year for writing music for the film "Mitsubachi to Enrai" (Listen to the Universe).
"I believe that Fujikura's music and Lydia Steier's staging will draw attention from opera fans and media overseas," said Kazushi Ono, the NNTT's artistic director of opera, who will conduct the production.
Ono will also conduct a new production of "Carmen" in July to wind up the opera season, which will feature 11 operas, including a double bill of "Le Rossignol" by Stravinsky and "Iolanta" by Tchaikovsky, both new productions.
From next season, the NNTT's National Ballet of Japan will have a new artistic director: Miyako Yoshida. The former principal of Britain's Royal Ballet retired as a dancer last summer.
"My first season is full of classic, full-length works, which I think are important for dancers to improve their techniques and stamina," Yoshida said. "The most important thing is to understand and express the works, which many Japanese dancers tend to find difficult."
The new ballet and dance season will feature six ballet productions, including a new production of "Swan Lake," the season opener in October. There will be three contemporary dance productions as well.
The NNTT's drama season will open in September with Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" starring Isabelle Huppert in a production directed by Ivo van Hove, originally for Odeon-Theatre de L'Europe in Paris.
The season will see six full-length plays and three projects, including an ongoing playwright workshop in collaboration with the Royal Court Theatre in London. The season highlights include the first theatrical adaptation of "Tokyo Godfathers," an animated film directed by Satoshi Kon.
"I'm sure it will be a fresh and exciting work about the power of people to be considerate to others," said Eriko Ogawa, the NNTT's artistic director of drama, who will direct "Kinema no Tenchi," a classic 20th-century play by Hisashi Inoue during the season.
In August this year, prior to the new season, the theater's three divisions will collaborate for the first time in "Super Angels," a new one-act opera featuring children and AI, with music by Keiichiro Shibuya, a composer known for works featuring vocaloid Hatsune Miku, and a libretto by popular novelist Masahiko Shimada. Ono will conduct the production directed by Ogawa, which will also feature dancers from the National Ballet of Japan.
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