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Tanino Kurou

タニノ クロウ

Tanino Kurou

Aliases: 谷野 九郎
Pen Names: Tanino Kurou（Stage name used for playwriting and directing. Legal name is Kuro Tanino (Tanino Kurou).）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1976-06-13 （Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Playwright, Theatre director, Psychiatrist (former)
Active Years
2000-
Affiliations
Niwagekidan Penino
Memberships
Niwagekidan Penino (member), Kishida Kunio Drama Award Selection Committee Member (2024)
Influenced By
Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp
Nominations
'Egao no Toride' — Finalist for the 52nd Kishida Kunio Drama Award, 'Hoshikage no Jr.' — Finalist for the 53rd Kishida Kunio Drama Award

Education

Showa University, School of Medicine
School of Medicine / Medicine
Year of Graduation: 2003
Country: Japan
Obtained medical license in 2003. Began theatre activities while enrolled.

Awards

Bakkers Theatre Encouragement Award
2007
Work: Wild Duck (Yaga)
Organization: Bakkers
Result: 受賞
Kishida Kunio Drama Award (60th)
2016
Work: Jigokudani Onsen: Mumyo no Yado
Organization: Kishida Kunio Drama Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Kitanippon Shinbun Arts Award
2016
Organization: Kitanippon Shinbun (Newspaper)
Result: 受賞
Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival Excellence Award (71st)
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Toyama Himawari Prize, Special Award
2018
Organization: Toyama Himawari Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Toyama Award (36th, Culture & Arts)
2019
Organization: Toyama Award Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Jigokudani Onsen: Mumyo no Yado

2016 Play / Drama

A play set in Toyama Prefecture that uses a hot-spring village as backdrop to explore human confusion and renewal.

regional identityrenewalhuman loneliness

Nijimu Machi (Rainbowing Town)

2021 Play / Drama

A visually driven piece that addresses the relationship between city and individual, unfolding through fragments of memory.

memoryurbanityvisual expression

Yagamo (Wild Duck / The Wild Duck)

2007 Play / Drama

A collaboratively scripted and directed piece notable for experimental staging and use of non-traditional performance spaces.

experimental theatrecollaborative creation

Dark Master

Play / Drama

A play developed from earlier scripts or source material; it has seen several revisions and toured multiple times.

reworkingtouring production

Bibliography

  • Jigokudani Onsen: Mumyo no Yado (Hakusensha, 2016)
  • Nijimu Machi (Hakusensha, 2021)

Adaptations

  • Little Limbo's Restaurant (film version)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
visual, pictorial stagingsurrealist elementsinstallation-like stage construction
Recurring Motifs
hot springs / regional landscapesmemory and fragmentsboundaries between body and mind

Legacy

Recognized domestically and internationally for experimental, highly visual staging, Tanino has expanded possibilities in playwriting and directing. His works set in Toyama emphasize regional identity.

Trivia

  • The troupe name 'Penino' is a coined word combining 'penis' and 'Tanino'.
  • Legal name is 谷野九郎 (Tanino Kurou), read the same as his stage name.
  • Worked as a psychiatrist at hospitals while continuing theatre activities.
  • His wife is actress Tamae Ando.