Kiyoshi Ori

Kiyoshi Ori

Playwright. Born 1972 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from the theater research institute Engeki Shudan En in 1995, Ori participated in the workshop “ Chiri no Totou ” run by Tatsuo Kaneshita, leader of the theater company The GAZIRA in 1997. In 1998 he formed the contemporary theater unit “Fragile” with director Shohou Sakurai and actor Yousuke Watanabe. Since then the unit has presented eight plays and served as director since the unit’s seventh play, Aozameta Uma (The Pale Horse). These plays have won acclaim for the solidly constructed theatrical spaces on which the depths of the human mind and the realities of society are projected. The 1998 work Yoshin – Yureyamenu Mizu no Tamashi nareba koso won honorable mention in the Waseda University Theater Museum 70th Anniversary Play Awards, in 2000, the play Hip Hop Typhoon – Shoujo ni wa Shinitagaru Kuse ga Aru won the New Artist Drama Award of the 6th Playwrights Association Awards, and in 2002, the play Anitomia won 3rd AAF Drama Award.
Ori was a finalist for the Kishida Drama Award for the play bridge (2004) and the play Arubaato wo Sagase (2006) written for the Bungakuza company. Currently, Ori has no regular company base, and this work Kokugo no Jikan is one that he spent three years writing with no guarantee of it being performed by any company. Ori is a member of the Japan Playwrights Association.