UCHIMURA PRIZE 

Background information

Winners of the Uchimura Prize  :

1993   Istvan Pinczes, Debrecen, (Hungary), director, for work accomplished over ten years on theatre projects in relation with Japanese theatre. 

1994  Sarajevo Festival Ensemble (Sarajevo) under the direction of Haris Pasovic for its production   "The Silk Drums" based on two Noh plays and a Kyogen from Japanese classical theatre. 

1995  The Playbox Theatre, Melbourne (Australia) for its production in English of “ The Head of Mary ” by Japanese author Chikao Tanaka, presented in Japan and in Australia. 

1996  James R. Brandon (U.S.A.), director and teacher, for his long-term work in  Kabuki training and his many Kabuki productions, in particular  “ Sukeroku, Flower of Edo ”. 

1997 Jointly won by the production “ Yaya ” (Lithuania) by Japanese author Seiichi Yashiro and by Mohamed Driss (Tunisia), author and director of the play Rajel Wa Mra (A man and a woman) based on three of Zeami’s Kyogen plays. 

1998 Jointly won by the Uruguayan production "La Grulla del Crepusculo" (The Bird of the Twilight) by the Japanese author Junji Kinoshita, adapted and directed by Luis Vidal Giorgi and performed by the Teatro Circular de Montevideo, and by Anne-Lise Gabold (Denmark) actress, director and teacher, for her diffusion of  Suzuki's Training Method for Actors in Denmark and her production of Euripides' "The Bacchants", linking Japanese and ancient Greek theatre traditions. 

1999 Awarded to Poh Sim Plowright (U.K.) Director of the Centre for the Study of Noh Theatre, Department of Dramatic Art, Royal Holloway, University of London. "the main function of the Centre is to render an ancient Japanese art accessible to western theatre students." 

2000 Awarded to Abel Solares (Austria/ Guatemala) for his play "Kinuta" a modern version of Zeami's Noh and for his work in using Japanese theatre traditions in and international context. Special mention to the play "Sade" presented by the Theatre Abya Yala (Costa Rica).

2001 Awarded to Christina Nygren (Sweden) , specialist of Asian theatre, for her studies of Japanese theatre and extensive work in favour of the promotion of Japanese theatre in Sweden. In 2000, she published a book on popular theatre titled "Ghosts, Generals and Gorgeous Goddesses: Travelling theatre troupes, religious festivals and popular entertainement in contemporary Japan and China."

2002 Awarded to the Romanian theatre company that adapted and produced « The Bloodied Lovers » or « Double Suicide »,a play by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Directed by Alexandru TOCILESCU, music by Irinel ANGHEL, scenography by Puiu ANTEMIR, costumes by Florinela Popescu FARCASANU; special note as well to the actors)

2003 Awarded to  Haukur Gunnarsson (Iceland/Norway), Director and Japanese theatre specialist , in acknowledgment for  his dedication to presenting Classical and modern Japanese plays to Norwegian and Icelandic audiences (the first Icelandic national to study theatre in Japan).

2004 Awarded to Dawn Akemi Saito (USA), actress, solo performer, writer and Butoh dancer and choreographer, for her  theatre work reflecting facets of Japanese culture, history, and art. Current project: a re-adaptation of her  solo piece "Blood Cherries", which fuses text, movement, music/soundscapes and visual imagery.