ABOUT

gekidan takumi

gekidan (theatre company) takumi was established by playwright and director Takuya Kato in 2013. The generation in which Takuya grew up in experienced major crisis in every decade – the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake at the age of 1, September 11 attacks at the age of 8, the Great East Japan Earthquake and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In his early career as an artist, he demonstrated outstanding drama-making ability, with his stage adaptations of novels and comics garnering attention. Each of his production brings together different talented actors. In recent years, Takuya has been producing original works in which the bottomless violence and a sense of emptiness rise up thickly in a complex story. His works have also expanded to experimental videos and installations.

Takuya Kato

Born in Osaka on 26th December 1993. Playwright, theatre director, film director. he has written and directed all of the company's productions. In2021, he won the 10th Shinichi Ichikawa Script Drama Award. In 2022,his play “DODO'S FREE FALL” won the prestigious 67th Kishida Kunio Drama Award.In 2022, he won the 30th Yomiuri Theater Awards Director Award with his play "MOHAYA SHIZUKA" and "The Welkin" written by Lcuy Kirkwood.

In 2022, his first film "Grown-ups". Takuya is represented by FOSTER.

Past Productions

  • The 20th Production: The Morning I Die Without Anyone Knowing

    Venue: Saitama Arts Theater, Adaptable Theater

    Dates: Sat 22nd February – Sun 1st March 2020

    The 20th Production: The Morning I Die Without Anyone Knowing

    <Synopsis>

    Ayumi lives quietly in a corner of the city. She does not age; repeats death and rebirth; but she cannot die. She has always avoided love and romance because she knows that her partner would die before her. However, one day, she falls in love with Yoshitsugu and eventually marries him. Yoshitsugu is a doctor and tries to solve the mystery of Ayumi’s condition. Ayumi starts to find happiness little by little as she becomes closer to Yoshitsugu’s brother, his wife and daughter. Ayumi does not lose her youth, however her family members go through the process of life – have babies and get older with each passing day.

    Yoshitsugu, who is now old and on his deathbed, takes a pill for euthanasia. Ayumi is devastated that he left without saying goodbye. Yoshitsugu’s nephew has been entrusted with his will, however, he is too adamant to hand it to Ayumi. Although Ayumi cannot die, she repeatedly attempts suicide and her family tries to stop her. Ayumi reads the will. The nephew does not know the fact that Ayumi cannot die and he is unable to find a reason to live, and he gets into a traffic accident.

    In order to be with Ayumi, Yoshitsugu repeatedly kills her in order to study her body and find the cause. This work highlights the love Yoshitsugu has for Ayumi, and also looks at the nephew who struggles with the stress of being a youth.

    Written and Directed by Takuya Kato
    Music Composed and Performed by Masanori Tanigawa (UNCHAIN)
    Cast:
    Eri Murakawa / Tetsu Hirahara (hi-bye)
    Yumi Adachi / Hiroyuki Onoue / Hiroyuki Toritani / Kisetsu Fujiwara / Risako Ito / Toru Yamaki / Kanon Kimoto / Tomoko Nakajima

  • The 19th Production: While Today is Unknown

    Venue: Theatre Tram

    Dates: Wed 28th August - Sun 1st September 2019

    The 19th Production: While Today is Unknown

    <Synopsis>

    The Onishi family lives with the couple, Megumi and Kazushi, and their daughter Hina, who is in the second year of junior high school and plays in the softball club. Megumi gives money to her father, Ichiro Ioka, every month, and so does Kazushi to a girl called Yoshida whom he met at a dating cafe.

    One day, after lunch with her friends from her part-time job, Megumi realises she cannot remember the way back home. She has developed a memory disorder where, interestingly, she only forgets where her “home” is.Kazushi breaks up with Yoshida and devotes to taking care of Megumi. Believing that Megumi will return to normal, they start the treatment without telling Hina. Meanwhile, Yoshida finds herself falling deeper in love with Kazushi. She is unable to forget him and she starts following him around.

    Hina senses that something is not right at home, but is too preoccupied with her own problems. She is contemplating quitting the softball team because they do not let her play pitcher. To make matters worse, her crush teases her for being like a boy because she plays softball. She starts resenting Megumi for making her play softball in the first place.

    On the day of the parent-teacher-student meeting, Megumi forgets that she must not leave home alone again and shows Hina, for the first time, that she has a memory issue. Hina does not understand the situation and blames Megumi. Megumi eventually forgets Hina’s name and about making her play softball. After a heated argument, Megumi runs away from home.

    Kazushi explains to Hina about Megumi’s memory disorder and they go in search of her. Hina eventually finds Megumi and they both reconcile their differences. The trio start to rebuild their family life once again.

    Ioka, Megumi’s father, comes to visit and he brings up a dark memory: they have buried Megumi’s cognitively impaired mother. Kazushi is unable to tell if this is a lie; Megumi has not forgotten this incident. Out of fear that Ioka would bury Megumi too, Hina suggests that they bury him instead before it is too late. The three of them finally kill Ioka and bury him.

    Written and Directed by Takuya Kato
    Music Composed and Performed by Masanori Tanigawa (UNCHAIN)
    Cast:
    Yuhi Ozora / Kosuke Suzuki
    Akana Ikeda / Kasumi Yamaya / Sanae Miyata / Kouji Futou (Matsubara Futou) / Kosaku Isahaya / Ryutaro Akimoto
    Kazuyoshi Kushida