Naomi Iizuka

Last updated
Naomi Iizuka
Born (1965-04-22) April 22, 1965 (age 59)
Tokyo, Japan
Education Yale University (BA)
University of California, San Diego (MFA)

Naomi Iizuka (born April 22, 1965) is a Japanese-born American playwright. Iizuka's works often have a non-linear storyline and are influenced by her multicultural background.

Contents

Early life and education

Naomi Iizuka was born in Tokyo, April 22, 1965. Her mother is an American Latina attorney and her father is a Japanese banker. Iizuka grew up in Japan, Indonesia, the Netherlands and Washington, D.C.

Iizuka attended the National Cathedral School, has her bachelor's degree in classical literature from Yale University in 1987 and spent one year at Yale Law School before eventually receiving her MFA in playwriting from University of California, San Diego in 1992. [1]

Career

She has taught playwriting at the University of Iowa and the University of Texas, Austin and was a Professor of Dramatic Arts and Director of the Playwriting Program at UC Santa Barbara until January 2008 when she took over as the head of MFA playwrighting at her alma mater, University of California, San Diego.

Iizuka was commissioned to write Good Kids, as the first playwright to participate in the Big Ten Theatre Consortium's New Play Initiative, which was established to commission, produce and publicize a series of new plays by female playwrights, each of which will contain several significant roles for college-aged women. [2]

Commissioning

The Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature cites Iizuka as 'One of the most commissioned playwrights in contemporary American theater.' [3] Iizuka approaches commissioning through prevalent social issues. She says the university is a particularly good pathway to develop her commissioned work because of the resources and diversity they can offer: 'I believe universities are the great untapped resource in American theatre. In terms of material resources: performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, shops and state-of-the-art equipment. Also, in terms of human resources and the communities you find within universities. If we want to develop artist-driven work that's keyed into the artist's process, that's not a one-size-fits-all process, universities can be a big part in solving that puzzle.' [4]

Iizuka was commissioned to write Good Kids by the Big Ten Theatre Consortium. The initiative is meant to support women playwrights and increase the number of roles for women on stage. [4] Iizuka says, 'I wanted to write a play that spoke to issues that were very important to university students right now. Having taught at a number of schools as a guest artist, and now teaching at University of California–San Diego, it seems like the issue of sexual assault—and more importantly, the attitudes and misconceptions that create a climate where sexual assault is prevalent—seemed timely.' [4] As part of the Big Ten initiative, universities are performing Good Kids to tackle the issue of sexual assault on campus. Good Kids is about a drunk high school girl who is raped by a group of football players after a high school party. The play focuses on the rumors and social aftermath. The natural question arises: who is to blame? 'I think the question that the play asks is how can this happen?" Iizuka says. 'If we take it as a starting point that college campuses are not filled with sociopathic predators: What is it that creates a situation where this happens?' [4] Through the process of creating Good Kids, Izuka collaborated with college students and solicited their input toward the issue of sexual assault and how campuses should prevent and respond to this crime. 'It's something that they very much want to talk about, and do something about,' she says. 'There's an enormous energy around the issue of sexual assault and what to do on campus. You don't solve a problem like sexual assault with anything other than a deep shift in attitude, and a deep shift in attitude happens conversation by conversation, in dorm rooms, parties and rehearsal halls.' [4]

Good Kids was produced at the University of Michigan (October 2–12, 2014), University of Iowa (February 8–15, 2015), Indiana University (February 6–14, 2015), University of Wisconsin–Madison (February 27-March 8, 2015), University of Maryland (February 27-March 7, 2015), Purdue University (April 10–12, 15-18, 22-26, 2015), Penn State University, Ohio State University (October 27, 2014), and has scheduled productions at many other schools outside the Big Ten. [5]

Content and critical response

Iizuka's background in classical literature inspires her 'fusing of classical styles and forms to modern and contemporary voices.' [3] Evident in her adaptation of Hamlet Hamlet: Blood on the Brain (2006), Johns Hopkins University Press describes her work as reinforcing 'a sense that the play's archetypal quality could be adapted to fit a society lacking resonance with either ancient Scandinavia or Elizabethan London….non-academic spectators could accept that classics illuminate modern society.' [6] Set in Oakland in the 1980s, the play is about a young man who gets out of prison to find his father murdered and his uncle in charge of his mother's house. Through the History of Oakland, California, the play explores the theme of anger and violence in contemporary time, drawing strong parallels to Shakespeare's Hamlet. [7]

Iizuka's Polaroid Stories (1997) is a modern adaptation of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus. Iizuka collapses classical literature and contemporary everyday life by making Minneapolis street kids the main characters of the play instead of mythical gods. [3] The drug dealers, prostitutes, and homeless tell their stories, some real and some complete lies, which together create some sort of truth about the desolate, urban landscape that they find refuge in. Iizuka's work shows that no matter the time period, there is great power in storytelling. [8]

Iizuka contemplates what is real and what is authentic in her 2001 play 36 Views. The title refers to nineteenth-century Japanese artist Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji . Some of the 36 scenes are set in contemporary America while others are set in Japan several hundred years ago. [9] A New York Times critic notes, 'among Ms. Iizuka's well-demonstrated ideas is that human wishes persistently obscure the truth. All by ourselves we make it tougher to know what's what.' [9] The play is about the unexpected discovery of an 11th-century Japanese pillow book and the struggle to construct reality in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding the book's origin and authenticity. Darius Wheeler and his assistant John Bell come across revelations that conflict with their previous assumptions throughout the play and up to the very end where 'not even the context of the plot is what it seems to be.' [9]

Personal life

She has lived in Iowa and currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Plays

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Playwright</span> Person who writes plays

A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwright" and is the first person in English literature to refer to playwrights as separate from poets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Vogel</span> American playwright

Paula Vogel is an American playwright. She is known for her provocative explorations of complex social and political issues. Much of her work delves into themes of psychological trauma, abuse, and the complexities of human relationships. She has received the Pulitzer Prize as well as nominations for two Tony Awards. In 2013 she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Theresa Rebeck is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award. In 2012, she received the Athena Film Festival Award for Excellence as a Playwright and Author of Films, Books, and Television. She is a 2009 recipient of the Alex Awards. Her works have influenced American playwrights by bringing a feminist edge in her old works.

Rebecca Claire Gilman is an American playwright.

Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this festival showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics, playwrights, and theatre lovers from around the world. The festival was founded in 1976 by Jon Jory, who was Producing Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville from 1969 to 2000. Since 1979 The Humana Festival has been sponsored by the Humana Foundation which is the philanthropic arm of Humana.

Lee Knowlton Blessing is an American playwright best known for his 1988 work, A Walk in the Woods. A lifelong Midwesterner, Blessing continued to work in regional theaters in and around his hometown of Minneapolis through his 40s before relocating to New York City.

Israel Horovitz was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio and as artistic director emeritus until his resignation in November 2017 after The New York Times reported allegations of sexual misconduct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Playwrights' Center</span> Non-profit theatre organization

Playwrights' Center is a non-profit theatre organization focused on both supporting playwrights and promoting new plays to production at theaters. It is located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In October of 2020, the organization announced plans to move to a larger space in St. Paul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Urban</span> American dramatist

Ken Urban is an American playwright, screenwriter, and musician based in New York. Urban is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and an affiliated writer at the Playwrights' Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Baker</span> American playwright and teacher

Annie Baker is an American playwright, film director, and teacher who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for her play The Flick. Among her works are the Shirley, Vermont plays, which take place in the fictional town of Shirley: Circle Mirror Transformation, Nocturama, Body Awareness, and The Aliens. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017. Her debut film Janet Planet released in 2023 to critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. David Hancock</span> American playwright

W. David Hancock is an American playwright, best known for his plays The Race of the Ark Tattoo and The Convention of Cartography. He is a two-time Obie winner for his works with the Foundry Theatre. His experimental, nonlinear work is known for blurring boundaries between artifice and reality, often through unconventional theatrical spaces and an object-centric dramaturgy. As the critic Elinor Fuchs writes, in Hancock’s work, “…we encounter mystery and authenticity at another level entirely.”

Melissa James Gibson is a Canadian-born playwright based in New York.

Judy GeBauer is an American playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Wheeler</span> Feminist playwright and actor

Amy Wheeler is a playwright, educator, speaker, nonprofit consultant, and the former Executive Director of Hedgebrook, a nonprofit organization supporting a global community of women and non-binary writers authoring change on Whidbey Island, where she served for 13 years. Wheeler is a feminist, actor and an alumna of Hedgebrook and Yaddo.

Marisela Treviño Orta is a third-generation Mexican-American playwright and poet from Lockhart, Texas. She attended the University of San Francisco where she received an MFA in Writing. While she was trained in poetry, Treviño Orta began writing plays after becoming the resident poet for El Teatro Jornalero!, a Latino theatre company which focuses on social justice issues.

Jen Silverman is an American playwright, TV writer, poet, and novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsten Greenidge</span> American playwright

Kirsten Greenidge is an American playwright. Her plays are known for their realistic language and focus on social issues such as the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. Her sisters are the historian Kerri Greenidge and writer Kaitlyn Greenidge.

Arlene Hutton is an American playwright, theatre artist and teacher. She is best known for a trio of plays, set during and after the Second World War, known as The Nibroc Trilogy. The initial play of that trilogy, Last Train to Nibroc, was the first play to transfer from FringeNYC to Off-Broadway. Other works for which she is known include a one-act dramatic work about the aftermath of a sexual assault, I Dream Before I Take the Stand; a one-act musical drama set among the members of a Shaker community in the 19th century, As It Is in Heaven; and a Holocaust-themed work, Letters to Sala, based on actual documents. She has also created plays for young audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Murillo</span> American playwright, director, and professor

Carlos Murillo is an American playwright, director, and professor of Puerto Rican and Colombian descent. Based in Chicago, Murillo is a professor and head of the Playwriting program at the Theatre School at DePaul University. He is best known for his play Dark Play or Stories for Boys.

Naomi Westerman is a British playwright, and author.

References

  1. ↑ Busy UC Santa Barbara Playwright Honored with Alpert Award in the Arts
  2. ↑ Hammerich, Jenna (2013-12-19). "Writing new roles, righting old wrongs : Big Ten Theatre Consortium establishes New Play Initiative to combat gender inequity in the theater". Iowa Now. University of Iowa. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Seiwoong., Oh (2013). Encyclopedia of Asian-American literature (Second ed.). New York: Facts on File. pp. 122–123. ISBN   9781438140582. OCLC   882543312.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Tran, Diep (2014-10-01). "Naomi Iizuka's 'Good Kids' Tackles Sexual Assault at Universities". American Theatre. Theatre Communications Group. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ↑ "Big Ten Plays - The Big Ten Theatre Consortium - New Plays by and about Women". theatre.uiowa.edu. University of Iowa. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  6. ↑ Richmond, Hugh M. (2007-10-29). "Hamlet: Blood on the Brain (review)". Shakespeare Bulletin. 25 (3): 89–92. doi:10.1353/shb.2007.0054. ISSN   1931-1427. S2CID   194074665.
  7. ↑ Harmanci, Reyhan (2006-10-26). "Tragic tale retold / 'Hamlet: Blood in the Brain' Shakespeare's play set on war-torn streets of Oakland in late '80s". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  8. ↑ Gruber-Miller, John (April 2004). "Ovid Metamorphosed: Naomi Iizuka's Polaroid Stories [Abstract]". camws.org. One-Hundredth Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  9. 1 2 3 Weber, Bruce (2002-03-29). "THEATER REVIEW; When Things Aren't What They Seem (Are They?)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  10. ↑ Montgomery, Hannah Rae (January 2015). "At the Vanishing Point: Play Guide" (PDF). actorstheatre.org. Actors Theatre. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Naomi Iizuka". www.whiting.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  12. ↑ "Stavis Award". National Theatre Conference. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  13. 1 2 "Naomi Iizuka with The Children's Theatre Company". The Joyce Foundation. 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  14. ↑ "Naomi Iizuka | The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts". herbalpertawards.org. 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  15. ↑ "2007 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for Drama to an American Playwright in Mid Career". PEN America. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  16. ↑ Hall, Margaret (2024-11-04). "Playwright Naomi Iizuka Receives 2024-2025 Hermitage Award". Playbill. Retrieved 2024-11-04.

Further reading

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.