Ryunosuke Kimura

Ryunosuke Kimura
木村龍之介
Born1983-07-11
Kusu, Ōita Prefecture, Japan
EducationBA (The University of Tokyo)
OccupationsTheatre director, dramatist
OrganizationKakushinhan
Known forStaging Shakespeare

Ryunosuke Kimura (木村 龍之介, born 11 July 1983）is a Japanese theatre director and dramatist. He founded Theatre Company Kakushinhan. He is known for directing modernised Shakespeare productions.

Early life

Ryunosuke Kimura was born on 11 July 1983 in Kusu, Ōita.[1] According to Kimura, his parents experienced "Romeo and Juliet-like romance", but they separated after he was born.[1] He spent his childhood in Osaka, Singapore, and Takarazuka.[1] He studied English literature at the University of Tokyo, and it took 10 years to graduate from it.[1]

Career

After learning theatre at Sai-no-Kuni Saitama Arts Theater and Shakespeare Theatre, he started Kakushinhan in 2012, staging his own play Hamlet x Shibuya ~ Light, Was Our Revenge Tarnished?, an adaptation of Hamlet.[1] Kimura says that the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami was so shocking that he could not help finding hope in imagination and creativity, which prompted him to start the theatre company.[1] This play was translated into English and published as a part of Re-imagining Shakespeare in Contemporary Japan: A Selection of Japanese Theatrical Adaptations of Shakespeare by the Arden Shakespeare in 2021.[2]

After starting the company, Kimura mainly focuses on the original texts of Shakespeare, and staged various plays featuring Yamato Kochi as a lead.[1]

In January 2016, Kakushinhan was selected as a "Promising Company" by Theater Fushikaden.[3] This year, Kimura directed Julius Caesar, which attracted attention from young theatregoers in Tokyo and appreciated as "emotionally cathartic".[4] In addition to Shakespeare productions in Tokyo, he directed The Taming of the Shrew in his hometown Kusu in 2016.[5][6]

In 2018, he worked as an instructor in Hobonichi's Shakespeare Lecture Series 2018 with Shoichiro Kawai and Kazuko Matsuoka.[7][8]

In 2025, he staged Natsuyume, an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, recreating Kayoko Shiraishi's face and voice by using AI.[9]

In 2026, Kakushinhan staged Titus Andronicus: Reborn at the International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova.[10]

Style

Kakushinhan is described to "try to draw universality and entertainment by clashing Shakespeare into the modern world".[11]

According to the International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova, Kimura's company Kakushin interprets Shakespeare's plays "as living texts that illuminate human emotion and existence today" by "rigorous textual interpretation".[10] It modernises Shakespeare by utilising various performing arts and media, such as Noh, opera, dance, contemporary art, and AI tools.[10]

Works

Bibliography

  • Hamlet x Shibuya ~ Light, Was Our Revenge Tarnished?, in Tetsuhito Motoyama, Rosalind Fielding, Fumiaki Konno, ed., Re-imagining Shakespeare in Contemporary Japan: A Selection of Japanese Theatrical Adaptations of Shakespeare, The Arden Shakespeare, 2021.[2]
  • Shakespear for the 14-year-old, Yamato Shobo, 2024 (in Japanese).[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "木村龍之介 | 架空の街「シェイクスピア東京」に見立てる 木村龍之介の新たなアプローチ | Performing Arts Network Japan". 国際交流基金 The Japan Foundation Performing Arts Network Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  2. 1 2 "Re-imagining Shakespeare in Contemporary Japan". Bloomsbury. Archived from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  3. ↑ "シアター風姿花伝｜風姿花伝プロジェクト". fuusikaden.com. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  4. ↑ "シェイクスピアが現代日本を見たら何を書くか【上】". ホウドウキョク. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  5. ↑ "再訪の対談。カクシンハン木村龍之介 × 演劇制作プロデューサー久原淳子の場合。 | Web Magazine Yadorigi" (in Japanese). 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  6. ↑ "カクシンハンじゃじゃ馬ならし大分公演特別連載『じゃじゃ馬たちは今夜もねむらせない』第一回 | Web Magazine Yadorigi" (in Japanese). 2016-06-25. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  7. ↑ "ほぼ日の学校「シェイクスピア講座2018」 - ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞". ほぼ日の学校「シェイクスピア講座2018」 - ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  8. ↑ "「天上の音楽」が聞こえる？シェイクスピアの音楽会プレトーク - ほぼ日ニュース". ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  9. ↑ "AIがシェークスピア演じたら…白石加代子アバター躍動の舞台「ナツユメ」". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2025-05-27. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Titus Andronicus: Reborn - Shakespeare Core | Festivalul Internațional Shakespeare Craiova". Craiova International Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  11. ↑ Yamaguchi Hiroko"(Tracing Shakespeare 9) No Fear of Adapting and Changing", The Asahi Shimbun, 17 July 2018, Evening ed., p. 2 (in Japanese).
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 "【演出家】木村 龍之介 | スタジオオーデュボン｜オフィシャルサイト" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  13. ↑ "カクシンハン「ハムレット」開幕、木村龍之介「これからのシェイクスピアを目撃して」". ステージナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  14. ↑ Sae, Kitamura (2020). "The War of the Roses dir. by Kimura Ryunosuke". Shakespeare Bulletin. 38 (1): 148–152. doi:10.1353/shb.2020.0014. ISSN 1931-1427.
  15. ↑ "Performing Shakespeare at the Noh Theatre in Fukuoka on 17", Mainichi Shimbun, 12 December 2019, Fukuoka ed., p. 20 (in Japanese)
  16. ↑ "WORKS 今後開催予定・過去の作品紹介". カクシンハン KAKUSHINHAN (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  17. ↑ "宮川彬良×木村龍之介が誘う"いま"のシェイクスピア 白石加代子のAIアバター登場が話題の『ナツユメ』本日開幕". ぴあ (in Japanese). 2025-06-06. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  18. ↑ "｢ハムレット｣主人公がほぼツイ廃なのに名作の訳 シェイクスピアはパクリの天才だった？". 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). 2024-09-22. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
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