Theatre 1

2012, Kazuhiro Soda, 172 minutes

Theatre 1 (Observational Film Series #3) is a feature-length documentary which depicts the world of Oriza Hirata, a leading playwright and director in Japan, and his theatrical company, Seinendan. The film leads the audience to revisit fundamental but timely questions: What is theater? Why do human beings act?

Describing his theories, Hirata says, "Human beings are all creatures who act. The so-called 'true self' is just an illusion. We only have personas." With his plays, he stays away from ideological expressions, focusing on "accidents" hidden in our everyday life. "Our existence itself is already dramatic and amazing," he says. Hirata's dialogues are written in plain speech as opposed to formal, "theatrical" language; his actors reproduce ordinary behavior rather than stylized movements and actions.

Hirata's theory of drama and its practice have had a revolutionary impact upon the contemporary Japanese theater, and their reputation has been steadily increasing worldwide. Seinendan has fostered numerous award-winning playwrights, including Shiro Maeda, Yukio Shiba, Shu Matsui, and Junnosuke Tada, as well as film director Koji Fukada. Theatre 1 won the Young Jury's Prize at the Festival des 3 Continents, 2012.