Hiroshi Ohashi, Zhao Chuan
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Grass Stage Social Theatre Forum No.15: the Theatre of Asia meets Asia
Speaker: Hiroshi Ohashi
Curated by Zhao Chuan
Language: English with Chinese Translation
Asia meets Asia is a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) aiming to promote international cultural exchange through performing arts across Asia. It was launched in 1997 by concerned artists themselves in Tokyo. AMA has been organizing six contemporary theatre festivals which consisted of theatre performances, workshops, and symposiums, and has also created nine collaborative works with Asian contemporary artists met in the festivals. So far, AMA has invited artists from nineteen different countries across the whole of Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Kirgizstan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraqi, Syria, China and Japan etc. This year AMA'll make the performance of Luxun, A Madman's Diary and Unbearable Dreams 6: Hope in Tokyo, Taibei, Hongkong and Bangalore. (Luxun, A Madman's Diarywas premiered in Shanghai in collaboration with Grass Stage in 2008).
It seems that peoples’ relationships in Asia have been getting rather distant or weaker because of various cracks and conflicts in the region whilst we enjoy economic growth and gain more political power. Under such circumstances, AMA strongly hopes to contribute to the process of peace-building in Asia, promoting people’s mutual understanding beyond ethnicity, religion and culture through building grass-rooted cultural networks; and expects rich cultural exchanges with local artists and audiences, and to explore and share new perspectives together in the age of globalization after the era of western-centered colonialism. AMA's activities and its achievements have been well-received and highly evaluated by various sectors, deepening the quality of cultural exchange and mutual understanding.
About Hiroshi Ohashi
In 1978 he founded Waseda Shin Gekijo Theater and became its artistic director. He has produced and directed 20 theater works in unconventional performance spaces that include tents, abandoned houses, and music clubs. His deconstructions of the texts of Shakespeare, Cervantes, Wilde, and Beckett created a new stage experience--full of irrational laughter and madness combined with a sharp critical perspective.
In 1986 he founded DA-M. He refused to use existing texts and present the theme of the play, but rather constructed theatrical piece with fragments of movements, voices and words constructionally in aim to developing new, theatrical power that confronts contemporary questions. Since 1995 he has been working on deepening improvisational work and creating a new structure of improvisational theatre, while participating in several International theater festivals abroad. He presents on stage shaky existences of our pure life that would never be a part of consumer system of big cities. Through these works he is developing a yet unknown theatrical power that merges primitiveness and modernness beyond a border.
Since 1997 he has organized Asia Meets Asia international theater projects in Tokyo. Started from 2008, he worked in collaboration with Shanghai based Grass Stage in many works.
大桥宏，赵川
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主讲：大桥宏 Hiroshi Ohashi
策划：赵川
语言：英语，中文翻译
“亚洲相遇”(Asia meets Asia)是始于1997年的非赢利性项目，致力于通过表演艺术和巡演推动国际文化交流。AMA已经组织了6次当代剧场戏剧节，与亚洲艺术家们完成了9个联合作品。AMA曾邀请19个不同亚洲国家和地区的艺术家，包括印度、孟加拉国、吉尔吉斯斯坦、阿富汗、伊朗伊拉克、叙利亚、中国、港台地区和日本等，在东京共同创作并演出。今年AMA更计划前往东京之外的其他国家和地区演出《鲁迅，狂人日记》（该剧2008年曾由草台班参与创作并在上海首演，名为《鲁迅二零零八》）和《梦难承6：希望》。
尽管近些年来我们享受经济增长和更多政治权力，因为地区矛盾和冲突，亚洲间的关系仍然疏远和脆弱。在这样的环境下，AMA强烈希望可以通过建立草根文化网络，超越种族、宗教和文化，促进亚洲和平建设进程，推动人民的互相理解。我们期待能与当代的艺术家和观众有更好的交流，在全球化的时代里一起探索、分享西方殖民主义观点之外的思考。AMA极大地深化了文化交流和互相理解，它的工作和成果被多个机构高度评价。
大桥宏简介
1978年大桥宏建立了早稻田真宗驹剧场并成为艺术总监，出品和导演了20个戏剧作品，并在各种非常规表演空间中演出，包括帐篷、空置房屋和音乐酒吧等。他对莎士比亚、塞万提斯、王尔德和贝克特文本的解构，建立了一种全新的舞台经验——以混杂了非理性语言和疯狂动来提出极为尖锐的批判观点。
1986年大桥宏创建的DA·M剧团。他拒绝创作既定文本和主题的作品，通过变形的动作、声音和语言建立戏剧性碎片，致力于发展一种全新的戏剧创作能量来面对当代社会问题。1995年起，大桥宏继续深化即兴创作，建立新的戏剧的结构，同时参与许多国际戏剧节。他在舞台上揭露了日常生活的不可靠，舞台不再是大城市中消费系统的一部分。通过这些作品，他发展了跨越边界，还没有被命名的、同时具有原始性和现代性的戏剧能量。
1997年他开始策划“亚洲相遇”项目。2008年起，他与上海草台班有着不少创作上的合作。
文化站“社会剧场”论坛简介
“舞台小世界，世界大舞台”─ 日常生活是怎样每天挥发出戏剧性，令我们无法不置身于社会剧场？“社会剧场”系列论坛每月邀请文化艺术领域著名学者、批评家，向我们揭示身处的剧场。现已邀请Christopher Connery、张献、顾铮、Rachel Freeman、王晓明、张献民、2wheels4change组合、孙丽翠、陈光兴、张念等作为主讲嘉宾出席草台班“文化站”，愿以各家之丰富积累与思考，畅谈文艺与公共生活等话题。
文化站简介
“文化站”是由草台班自2007年底开始组织的小规模文化聚会，希望有助于探讨文艺与社会的联系，传播知识，促进跨界交流。共举办超过40次。不定期举行，免费参加。活动以专家座谈、专题介绍，讨论及小规模表演等方式展开。“文化站”立足草台班主旨，欢迎关注社会文化，希望开放自己思维和观念，愿意探讨问题和表达意见的人士参与。可参阅草台班网站www.grassstage.com