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

这项研究项目的目的是从实践和理论两个层面了解当代美国戏剧在全球化时代是如何发展和/或重塑自己的。从日本和美国的比较角度来看，研究人员在项目期间的四年时间里，在美国和日本的剧院实际观看演出进行了研究。2)阅读书面材料，基本上是文化和社会理论的体裁。在这一过程中，“全球化”的多元概念成为分析和思考当代日本和美国戏剧实践的一个关键概念，而它在“本土化”戏剧作品中的具体表现则成为审视一些必须解决和探索的理论问题的重要场所。资本主义社会关系全球化，压迫力量隐形，甚至难以寻觅。从这些方面考虑，如果我们假设全球化或因全球化而改变的社会结构可以在戏剧实践等文化场所中观察到，那么相当有趣的是，发现新千年后的当代日本戏剧实践一直在通过各种正式的实验来改变自己，部分原因是它们迅速变化的社会环境。另一方面，美国戏剧艺术家正在向社会领域转移和重新定位他们的实践，处理一些紧迫的全球化问题。同时，日常生活中的社会关系需要时间进入艺术情感，应该提醒我们，这种研究在未来几年里还需要继续保持下去。

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.