Interview with Dadaru's Emi Oishi: Excess and Desire, Toward the First Outdoor Performance of 'Yodare Kansha' (Interviewer: Sachi Nishimura)
Emi Oishi, whose work 'Yodare Kansha' won the Kishida Kunio Drama Award, discusses her solo storytelling style and the influence of comedy ahead of its first outdoor staging.Summary
Dadaru's 'Yodare Kansha,' which won the 70th Kishida Kunio Drama Award, will receive its first outdoor performance at the performing arts festival 'Autumn Meteorite 2026 Tokyo,' directed by Toshiki Okada, on October 17 and 18 at GLOBAL RING THEATRE (Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park Outdoor Theatre). First performed in Tokyo and Kyoto in 2025, the work consists of three pieces—'Dog,' 'Red,' and 'Cicada'—in which words and thoughts chain together and leap to unexpected places. In an interview with critic Sachi Nishimura, founder Emi Oishi explained her transition from early conversational theater to her current solo style in which she writes, directs, and performs alone, releasing words in the Kansai dialect. She described feeling uncomfortable with collective creation where actors bore the brunt of failure, leading her to prefer a form where everything returns to her. She also cited comedy and stand-up as key references, valuing a clear attitude toward the audience so that words are properly heard. Oishi calls her language 'exposed words' and said she has long thought it should be performed in a street-like setting, making this outdoor performance a long-held ambition.
(Source：Tokyo Art Beat)