A Comparative Study of Contemporary American Theatre in an Age of Globalization

这个研究项目的目的是在实践和理论层面上了解当代美国戏剧在全球化时代是如何发展和/或重塑自身的。在项目进行的四年时间里，研究者在美国和日本的剧院场地进行了实地观察演出的研究。2)通过书面材料的阅读，基本上是文化和社会理论的体裁。在这一过程中，“全球化”的多重概念成为分析和思考日本和美国当代戏剧实践的关键概念，而其在“本土化”戏剧作品中的具体表现，则成为审视和探讨一些理论问题的重要场所。资本主义的社会关系已经全球化，压迫性的权力变得无形，甚至难以定位。从这些角度考虑，如果我们假设全球化或因此而改变的社会结构，可以在剧院实践等文化场所中观察到，发现新千年后的当代日本戏剧实践通过各种形式的实验改变了自己，这是相当有趣的，部分原因是他们快速变化的社会环境。另一方面，美国戏剧艺术家正在将他们的实践转向社会领域，承担起全球化的一些紧迫问题。同时，日常生活中的社会关系需要时间来进入艺术的感性，需要提醒的是，我们将在未来的几年里继续进行这种研究。

The purpose of this research project was to understand, both at practical and theoretical levels, how contemporary American theatre is developing and/or refashioning itself in an age of globalization., from a comparative perspective between Japan and the U.S. For four years during the project, the investigator has conducted research 1) at American and Japanese theatre venues actually observing performances. 2) in reading through written material basically in the genre of culture and social theory. In the process, the multivalent notion of "globalization" has become a key concept in analyzing and thinking about contemporary theatre practices both in Japan and the U.S., while its concrete manifestations in "localized" theatrical works have been important sites to look at some theoretical issues that had to be addressed and explored. Capitalistic social relations have become globalized, making oppressive power invisible and even difficult to locate as a result. Thinking in those terms, if we assume globalization or the social structure that was being transformed because of it, can be observed in cultural sites such as theatre practices, it was rather interesting to discover that contemporary Japanese theatre practices after the new millennium have been transforming themselves through various formal experiments, partly because of their rapidly changing social milieu. On the other hand, American theatre artists are shifting and relocating their practices towards a social sphere, taking up some of the urgent issues of globalization. At the same time, everyday life social relations needs time to enter the artistic sensibilities, and it should be reminded that we keep this kind of research for some more years to come.