Kuro Tanino (タニノクロウ) (born 1976) is a Japanese theatre director and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Born into a family of

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

s, Tanino also himself trained and worked as a psychiatrist before turning to theatre. He founded the theatre group Niwa Gekidan Penino (literally "garden theatre company Penino") in 2000, and he writes, directs and designs all productions. He is also a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

. His plays are highly

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, filled with bizarre characters and creatures, influenced by

Juro Kara Juro may refer to: * Juro Novelty Company, American toy manufacturer People with the name * Juro Adlešič (1884–1968), Slovenian lawyer and politician * Jūrō Gotō (1887–1984), Japanese military officer * Juro Janosik (1688–1713), Slovak ...

. He prefers to use

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in th ...

s to writing regular play texts. The design is often very meticulous and colorful, with strange, incongruous elements crammed into small spaces. Influenced by

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

's method of creating miniatures of his work and carrying them around with him, Tanino considers his sets and plays to be like fully formed pictures, arranging performers like parts of an installation or tableaux. His series of "Hakobune" (ark) plays were staged at his apartment and involved elaborate sets in spite of the cramped sizes. "Frustrating Picture Book for Adults" (2008) was later also staged in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Switzerland,

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Nether ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, while "The Room, Nobody Knows" (2012) was performed in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

in January 2014 and has also been staged in Europe. For "The Frustrating Picture Book for Adults" the stage was divided into upper and lower platforms, with the upper part inhabited by two old women, one with a pig’s face and the other with a sheep’s face. In the low-ceilinged room of the set, there is a log piercing the ceiling and another log that pierces the floor between the upper and lower levels. In the lower level a young man in student uniform was tied to one of the trees, causing him to ejaculate when the tree was stroked by the "pig" or the "sheep". They would then eat the white liquid that came out of the tree. "The Town Where the Sun and Underwear are seen" (2009) was staged at Festival/Tokyo 2009 Autumn, while "Box in the Big Trunk" (2013), which combined the three Hakobune productions into one "set", was performed in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

. He has also directed adaptations of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

and

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career a ...

.Drama outsider takes a step into the theater
Article in The Japan Times, January 30, 2009

Notes

References

*Iwaki, Kyoko ''Tokyo Theatre Today – Conversations with Eight Emerging Theatre Artists'' (2011) Hublet Publishing (2011/11/6)

External links

Festival/Tokyo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanino, Kuro Japanese theatre directors 1976 births Living people