Ako (actress)

Last updated
Ako
HR 2187.jpg
Ako in 2019
Born
Atsuko Taneya

Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese-USA
Other namesAko Dachs
Occupation(s) Actress, Producer, Director, Choreographer, Playwright
Years active1960-
SpouseJoshua Dachs
AwardsLucille Lortel Leading Actress in Play nomination, The best student Award and The excellent accomplishment award at Takarazuka Music School.

Ako, or Ako Dachs, is a Japanese actress who is the founding Artistic Director of the Amaterasu Za theatre company. She received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2019.

Contents

Early life and education

Ako was a child actress in Japan and she came to the United States to study at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. [1]

Ako worked the Takarazuka Revue Company, all-female theater company in Japan. [2]

Acting career

Stage

Ako starred Off-Broadway in God Said This by Leah Nanako Winkler produced by Primary Stages at Cherry Lane Theatre and at Humana Festival. [3] She also starred in Kentucky by Leah Nanako Winkler by Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Ako performed in repertory at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in their 2010 and 2011 seasons. [4] Notably, in Julius Caesar (play) , Ako played Caius Ligarius as well as Soothsayer, speaking the nightmare scene in Japanese, from a 19th century translation. [5] She played the Lady Macbeth character in Ping Chong's Throne of Blood, a stage adaptation of Kurosawa's film of the same name. She reprised the role later that year at Brooklyn Academy of Music and was lauded for moving "with a quiet grace, and her frequent use of stillness is equally potent." [6]

Ako performed in the world premiere of Tamar of the River with Prospect Theater. [7] She has worked with Papermill Play House in their  production of Sayonara: The Musical, a stage version of the James A. Michener novel, Sayonara (1954) and Mikado Inc.

In 2020, Ako performed in Suicide Forest with Ma-Yi Theater Company. [8] Play Anfisa in Moscow x6, by Williams Town Festival in 2018 and in2019 by MCC. In 2004, she performed as Chin/Suzuki in M. Butterfly at Arena Stage. [9] She was in Pan Asian Repertory Theatre  2008 production of Shogun Macbeth, Tea House of the August Moon, and Sayonara: The Musical, [10] [11] She played Atsuko for Velina Hasu Huston's TEA at ATC at Seattle, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and PanAsian Rep.

In 2022, she was in Molière's Dom Juan at Fisher Center at Bard. [12] She directed and starred in Chushingura — 47 Ronin in New York, and the show received positive reviews. [13] [14] The play was in Japanese and English, both with subtitles, with Ako as narrator. [15]

Film and television

Film credits include: These Birds Don't Fly South in the Winter (2019), I Origins (2014), Twelve (2010), No Reservations (2007), Shadowplay (short) (2002), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Too Tired to Die (1998), Daitoryo No Christmas Tree (1996), Prisoners in Time (1995), and Sleepwalk (1986).

Ako also appeared on an episode of 30 Rock in Season 3 (2008) and Mercy (TV series) (2010).

She appeared as Daiyoin/Lady Iyo in the 2024 FX series Shōgun . [16]

Directing, translation, and choreography

Ako adapted and translated three plays by Chikamatsu Monzaemon [17] 'Courie of Love' and co-directed a staged reading, and she directed Yukio Mishima's Modern Noh Play 'Hanjo' and 'Aoi no Ue' in 2019. [18]

Ako choreographed for productions of Sayonara: The Musical at Paper Mill Playhouse and Pan Asian Rep. She also choreographed for Shogun Macbeth and The Teahouse of the August Moon (play) at Pan Asian Rep.

Awards

Related Research Articles

Forty-seven <i>rōnin</i> 18th century samurai battle

The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin, also known as the Akō incident or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of rōnin avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is one of the three major adauchi vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta.

<i>The 47 Ronin</i> (1941 film) 1941 film directed by Kenji Mizokuchi

The 47 Ronin is a black-and-white two-part jidaigeki Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, adapted from a play by Seika Mayama. The first part was released on December 1, 1941 with the second part being released on February 11 of the following year. The film depicts the legendary forty-seven Ronin and their plot to avenge the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by killing Kira Yoshinaka, a shogunate official responsible for Asano being forced to commit seppuku.

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven rōnin and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early Kanadehon Chūshingura (仮名手本忠臣蔵), the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media. With ten different television productions in the years 1997–2007 alone, Chūshingura ranks among the most familiar of all historical stories in Japan.

Laila Robins is an American stage, film and television actress. She has appeared in films including Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), An Innocent Man (1989), Live Nude Girls (1995), True Crime (1999), She's Lost Control (2014), Eye in the Sky (2015), and A Call to Spy (2019). Her television credits include regular roles on Gabriel's Fire, Homeland, and Murder in the First, playing Pamela Milton in the final season of The Walking Dead (2022), and Colonel Grace Mallory in The Boys (2019–present) and Gen V (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theater in New York City

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unchanged to this day.

The White Barn Theatre was a theater founded in 1947 by actress and producer Lucille Lortel on her property in the Cranbury neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut. The theater premiered numerous plays by established playwrights that often continued to successful Broadway and Off-Broadway runs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Raffo</span> American dramatist

Heather Raffo is a Lucille Lortel Award-winning Iraqi-American playwright and actress, best known for her leading role in the one-woman play 9 Parts of Desire.

Derek McLane is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and television. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Butler Harner</span> American actor

Jason Thomas Butler Harner is an American actor known for his role as FBI Special Agent Roy Petty in Ozark.

The Treasury of Loyal Retainers is an 11-act bunraku puppet play composed in 1748. It is one of the most popular Japanese plays, ranked with Zeami's Matsukaze, although the vivid action of Chūshingura differs dramatically from Matsukaze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichiriki Chaya</span> Ochaya in Kyoto

The Ichiriki Teahouse, formerly Ichiriki Mansion, is an historic ochaya in Kyoto, Japan. It is located at the southeast corner of Shijō Street and Hanami Lane, its entrance right at the heart of the Gion Kobu district.

<i>Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki</i> 1962 film

Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki is a 1962 Japanese jidaigeki epic film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is based on the story of the forty-seven rōnin. The film stars Toshiro Mifune as Genba Tawaraboshi, along with Matsumoto Hakuō I, Yūzō Kayama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Akira Takarada, Yosuke Natsuki, Makoto Satō, and Tadao Takashima.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deirdre O'Connell (actress)</span> American actress

Deirdre O'Connell is an American character actress who has worked extensively on stage, screen, and television. She has won a Tony Award and been nominated for Drama Desk Awards, among other awards and nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet Rylance</span> English actress and producer (born 1979)

Juliet van Kampen Rylance is an English actress and producer, known for her roles in The Knick, McMafia and Perry Mason.

<i>47 Ronin</i> (2013 film) 2013 American film

47 Ronin is a 2013 American historical fantasy action film directed by Carl Rinsch in his sole theatrical directorial effort. Written by Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini from a story conceived by Morgan and Walter Hamada, the film is a work of Chūshingura, a fictionalized account of the forty-seven rōnin, a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their daimyō Asano Naganori by battling his rival Kira Yoshinaka. Starring Keanu Reeves in the lead role along with Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuchi and Ko Shibasaki, the film bears little resemblance to its historical basis compared to previous adaptations, and instead serves as a stylized interpretation set "in a world of witches and giants."

Maria Dizzia is an American actress. Dizzia was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in In the Next Room .

Amy Herzog is an American playwright. She is known for her poignant and character-driven plays that explore themes of family dynamics, personal relationships, and the complexities of human experience. She has received a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katy Sullivan</span> American Paralympic track and field athlete and actress

Katy Sullivan is an American actress, producer, writer, and Paralympic track and field athlete and US record holder.

Rebecca Taichman is an American theatre director. In 2017, she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Indecent.

Natsuko Ohama is a Canadian vocal coach, actress, and director. She is a founding member of Shakespeare & Company, Company of Women, and Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company (LAWSC).

References

  1. ↑ "New York Shakespeare Live Interview Series: Ako Dachs of the Japanese-American Theater Company, Amaterasu Za".
  2. ↑ "Sayonara Interview with Ako Dachs". YouTube. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Levitt, Hayley. "God Said This Confronts Mortality and a Shrouded Family Legacy". TheaterMania. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Ako". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "0:03 / 1:00:09 Shakespeare Hour LIVE! Episode 21: Shakespeare & Japan". Shakespeare Theatre Company. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. ↑ Bacalzo, Dan. "Throne of Blood". TheaterMania. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Gioia, Michael. "World Premiere of Tamar of the River, Starring Rocky's Margo Seibert, Opens Oct. 2". Playbill. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Suicide Forest". Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  9. ↑ Marks, Peter. "At Arena Stage, a 'Butterfly' With Wings". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Ako Dachs: from Takarazuka to New York City". Asian Culture Goes Pop. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Leiter, Samuel L. "Review: Pan Asian Rep's 'Sayonara'". The Broadway Blog.
  12. ↑ "Moliére's Dom Juan". Fisher Center. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Vincentelli, Elisabeth. "'Chushingura — 47 Ronin' Review: A Sprawling Tale of Loyalty". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  14. ↑ Miller, Deb. "Masterful Storytelling in New Off-Broadway Adaptation of Japanese Classic 'Chushingura – 47 Ronin' at A.R.T./New York". DC Theater Arts. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Chushingura - 47 Ronin". Amatersuza.Org. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Marnell, Blair. "FX's Shogun Trailer Breathes New Life into the Classic Tale". Digital Trends. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Eyring, Teresa. "Japanese Theatre's U.S. Expansion Teams". American Theatre. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  18. ↑ "Round 6 Cycle C Recipients". Theatre Communications Group. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "2019 Nominees". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.