Leaving Eden, photo: Russell Parkman
–Mark Russell, Artistic Director, Under the Rader Festival, The Public Theater
“Chiori Miyagawa adamantly refuses to provide those signposts that more comforting dramatists leave to reassure audiences. The force of her work lies in its jarring historical and cultural discontinuities, its mixture of brutality and beauty, its disorienting verbal and visual impact.”
–Martin Harries, Professor of English at University of California, Irvine
Red Again/Antigone Project, photo: T. Charles Erickson
I Have Been to Hiroshima Mon Amour, photo: Carol Rosegg
“I always look forward to seeing work by Chiori Miyagawa for at least three reasons. First, I know it will be richly human: Chiori articulates the most fundamental aspects of our humanity in her plays. Second, I know it will challenge me–not just my assumptions about the world, but also about what theatre can be: her unique blend of eastern and western philosophical and theatrical styles is constantly interesting and invigorating. And finally, I know it will surprise me. Her plays cover the gamut of subjects and themes. But they all share her deep compassion for the world and her inimitable powers of storytelling.”
–Martin Denton, Editor, nytheatre.com
“Miyagawa draws fragments of cultural memory that she finds in the interstices of time. A poetic dramatist, she incorporates figures, images, and language that can be translated into “a feeling that we can all recall from somewhere in our lives, from something in our pasts.” Miyagawa’s characters hold fast to their fragile memories and mystical thinking to ward off loss and achieve a kind of immortality.”
–Sharon Friedman, Assistant Professor in the Gallatin School of New York University