Bitef

HISTORY OF BLACK TENT THEATER Founded in 1968, the Black Tent Theater currently has 30 members. With the cooperation of volunteer organizers, we carry out theatrical activities in more than 120 towns and cities throughout Japan. 1968 The BTT is founded as Theater Center 68 through the merger of three small dramatic groups. It initiates a variety of activities featuring repertory theater, mobile theater, and magazine publication. 1970 Nationwide performances begin in a large black tent with seating for about 350. The first work is The Dance of Angels Who Burn Their Own Wings, an original play based on Peter Weiss's Marar/Sade. 1971 The BTTs activities are reorganized to focus on mobile theater in the tent, and its official name is changed to Black Tent 68/71. 1972-73 A series of activities begins with the catch phrase, "Midwinter commercial theater.” Abe Sada: A comedy, written by Makato Sato, is performed in a Tokyo theater with the tent erected inside it. 1975-77 A trilogy by Makato Sato on themes of the Showa era (1926-89) is performed in all over Japan. The plays are Abe Sada's Dogs, Kinema and the Phantom, and The Murder of Blanqui in Shanghai Spring. Activities are temporarily suspended. 1978 Interaction begins with Indian, Philippine, and other Asian groups. A 10year “Asian theater" plan with the catch phrase of “Theater for the struggling masses” is formulated, and two programs, the Red Cabaret and the Red classroom, are launched. 1979 Tent performances resume with a tour of The Murder of Blanqui in Shanghai Spring. Next Yotohama Paradise written by Kiyokazu Yamamoto and directed by Sato, is staged in Tokyo. 1980 Saiyuki, a set of episodes from the Chinese tale Hsi Yu Chi (Monkey), is performed using “the actor as narrator” technique, which we developed through exchange with Asian theatrical groups. BTT members participate in a workshop organized by the Philippine-Educational Theater Association. The BTT's first over-' seas performance is staged in Manila. 1981 Sato's Night of Night and Night is staged around the country in the tent. The Red Cabaret begins tours with two productions based on the works of Kenji Miyazawa, a famous poet and novelist who was active in the 1930'5. 1982 Kiyokazu Yamamoto's Pinocchio Janbaraya is taken on a nationwide tent tour, and the Red Cabaret performs Dario Fo's Tale of a Tiger around Japan and in Manila. Abe Sada's Dog is.staged in The Haiyuza Theater in Tokyo.

1983 The Red Cabaret stages four plays in Tokyo, and the tours Japan with America written byTadashi Katoh. Sato's Ashes and Diamonds is performed in the Haiyuza. The Asian Theater Forum, a conference on people's theater with participants from sevet Southeast Asian countries, is held. 1984 An adaptation of Georg Buchner's Woyzeck is staged in the Haiyuza and taken on a nationwide tent tour. The Red Cabareg goes on a tour with The Second Travels of Kenji Miyazawa. 1985 A new version of Woyzeck is performed in the tent, all over Japan, and Brecht Surprised: A Revue, based on Bertold Brecht's Rise and Fall of Mahagony City, is performed in the Haiyuza. The Titanic project is initiated. Naughty Night, written by Taro Takahashi and directed by Tadashi Katoh, is staged at the BTT center. 1987 Proletariat Sadness Story is performed at the BTT center and taken on a tour. Working with the composer Yuji Takahashi and the painter Taeko Tomiyama, the BTT produces and stages in Tokyo Uminari, Hanayose, with the theme of the Korean “comfort woman" used by the Japanese military. Around the same time the Red Cabaret performs The Second Travels of Kenji Miyazawa in Vancouver and Seattle. The-Spotlighted Onion, written an directed by Sato, opens in Tokyo and is taken on a tour around Japan, 1988 The Black Tent Theater celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation. The Spotlighted Onion is staged in Tokyo. Proletariat Sadness Story is performed in Tokyo and Karakuwa Seaside Theater, a festival in a small fishing village. The Red Cabaret takes The Third Travels of Kenji Miyazawa on a tour. 1989 BTT members participate again in the Karakuwa Seaside Theater; using workshops, they help the villagers produce their own play. At the BTT center, Singing in Brecht is staged, and Seven W/se Man in a Labyrinth: Kenji's World is staged, 1990 The Diary of Roppa is presented at the BTT center. The Three-Penny Opera, based on Brecht's work of the same name, opens in the tent in Tokyo and goes on a three-month nationwide tour. This is the first work in a Brecht Renaissance series, disigned to present Brecht's work in a free, èasy-to-understand, and humorous fashion. An original play is directed at the Karakuwa Seaside Theater. A theatrical workshop office is set up. 1991 With Yamamoto directing, Hiroshi Ageno's Eighty-Eight Nights on the Tajomaru is presented in Tokyo. Sato's Keeping Gogo Waiting: Our Three Wise Men is staged at the BTT center. This is the first in a series of experimental dramas for nontheatrical spaces.

1992 Performances in the tent, which has grown too old for sahe use, are, brought to a stop; activities are refocused on alternating productions in theaters and at the BIT center. With Yamamoto as writer and director. Hazama and Sumi-chan is performed in Tokyo's Honda Theater. Based on Brecht's Good Woman of Setuan, it is the second work in the Brecht Renaissance. Kafu's Opera, written and directed by Sato, is staged at the BTT center. It is based on the life and works of the noted writer Kafu Nagai. Hazama and Sumi-chan is taken on a nationwide tour. 1993 Gauche the Cellist by the Window based on Kehji Miyazawa’s Gauche the Cellist, written by Yamamoto and directed by him and Haruhiko Saito is shown at the BTT center. Urban jungle, written and direct by Kato, is performed at Tokyo's Globe theater as the third work in the Brecht Renaissance. An acting school is opened. Kafu's Opera is performed in the Asakusa France-za, in Tokyo. Later the same play is performed in Japan in such nontraditional venues as factories, Noh stages, and open spaces. 1994 “Alternative theater" and “Networking” activities are started. Yamamoto's Acharaka Merchant, directed by Katoh, is performed in the Honda Theater in. Gauche the Cellist by the Window is performed at Tokyo's Baus Theater and taken on a tour, Silver-Ball King written, and directed by Sato, is staged at the BTT center as a work in the Asian theater series. It is based on the Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill. 1995 Tekkon Kincrete, a joint work directed by Sato, is performed at the Honda Theater. Based on a popular comic-book series by Taiyo Matsumoto, it features improvisation by the actors. A large group of young actors, writers, and directors from outside the BTT collaborate in this production. Woyzeck participates Avignon ‘Off Theater Festival, 1996 KAN-GAN, based on the story of Singaporean writer, Kuo Pao Kun, and directed by Sat, is played at The Suzanari Theater. It is the first work of Asia collaboration activity. Woyzeck goes to Europe tour and attends 3 theater festival such as Avignon ’Off Festival. The Road Taken by Shishi, directed-by Yamamoto, attends Toyama National Theater Festival. KANGAN goes to nationwide tour. Workshop with BETA for next year production Romeo and Juliet is carried out in Manila.