Organized by Festival/Tokyo 2017 with the Japanese section of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) and Waseda University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Theatre and Film Arts), this symposium will explore the significance and possible significations of international theatre festivals today.

Alongside Festival/Tokyo Director Sachio Ichimura, the four panelists are all IATC members. During his presidency of IATC, Yun-Cheol Kim (South Korea) was engaged in many international theatre festivals around the world as a jury member. Octavian Saiu (Romania) is a perennial long-haul flyer teaching, speaking, and organizing things all over the world, and has been working with international festivals not only in Romania (Sibiu, Craiova, and others) but also in other parts of Europe, most notably in the UK (Edinburgh). Shintaro Fujii (Japan) is a professor at Waseda University and professional theatre critic. He has a long familiarity with international festivals, most particularly Avignon. The symposium will be moderated by Manabu Noda (Japan), a professor at Meiji University and theatre critic.

Language: Japanese, English (consecutive interpretation)

Presented by Festival/Tokyo, International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) Japan Center, Waseda University Studies in Theatre and Films Arts