A double bill of one-act plays. “Control Officers” is set in the waiting room for doping inspection at the Japanese national swimming championships to select male swimmers for the Olympic games. Surrounded by inspectors, athletes drink water and wait for the call of nature. “100 Meters,” which premieres in this North American tour, realistically depicts what goes on in the athletes’ waiting room in the 30 minutes right before the final 100m sprint match for the Olympic selection takes place.

Seinendan is a theater company formed by Oriza Hirata in Tokyo in 1983. We have been pursuing a new theatrical style through the practice of Hirata's "contemporary colloquial theater theory." This totally new style has had a strong influence on Japanese theater since the 1990s as well as on vast areas such as literature, linguistic study and language education.

Oriza Hirata (Playwright/Director)
Oriza Hirata was born in Tokyo in 1962. He is a playwright and artistic director of Komaba Agora Theater, and director and leader of Seinendan theater group. He is also Artistic Director of Kinosaki International Arts Center, and specially appointed professor of Osaka University and project professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Awards include Kishida Prize for Drama for his play Tokyo Notes in 1995. Hirata received Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by French Ministry of Culture.