When I directed the production of Enjoy at New National Theatre Tokyo in 2006, my intent was to provoke the audience. In other words, I wanted to stage a productive collision by presenting this play about issues relevant to my generation — through a very unconventional performance style — to the relatively older crowd who frequent the prestigious New National Theatre Tokyo. I think I was successful in doing so. But that was three and half year ago.

When I saw The Play Company’s production in New York, I was struck by the intimacy that the show created with the audience. It was the absolute opposite of what I had attempted to create with my production. Was I disappointed by the result? Not at all.

In fact I would venture to say that Dan’s direction of this piece, which takes great care in communicating with the audience, is perhaps much more successful a production that the version I directed myself.  Of course, it’s impossible to draw a fair comparison between the two productions, given that theme of this play –  the state of young working people – is becoming a more serious issue in the U.S. now, and the various contexts in the play resonate very differently in New York and Tokyo.

In any case, I’m very happy that a play I wrote has received another production like this. It makes me even happier, not only that it has been revived, but that its has been revived as a production that cultivates such wonderful relationship with its audience.  And that the show has even been extended! That means perhaps there will have been more people who see the New York production than the Tokyo production.  Well, I must admit, that makes me a bit jealous.

I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who was involved in this production. Among them, I’d like to especially thank Ms. Aya Ogawa, who captured my taste for tedious meandering Japanese perfectly, and delivered the play to the audience in English without ever betraying the sense of strangeness of a “translated play.”

Toshiki Okada

Translated by Aya Ogawa

© Frank Harts

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