I must confess that I was not the best student in the university. I majored Theatre Arts, but as I studied more about theatre, I found myself losing passion in it. In the early 2000s in Tokyo, I couldn’t find any show which captured my interest.

Throughout four years, I have seen nearly 100 stages in all kinds. But I didn’t find anything mind-blowing in the theatre scene in Tokyo.  

Fringe theaters were mostly boring . They all looked to be a petty expression of directors’ or playwrights’ (they are oftentimes same person) libido and frustration towards the society. Large-scale productions seemed to be either too pedantic or too commercial. I started to question the meaning of theatre.

“What’s the point of tragic or absurd dramas? I don’t like sad stories. I don’t understand meaning of absurd theatre. I don’t want to feel sad or baffled when I paid 5000 yen for it. I would feel deceived.”

One time, I asked bluntly to my professor. She was one of the most popular and articulate teacher in the faculty. Her field of study was absurd theatre. Students often rumored that she must be a black witch since she would often talk about the occult in the theatre.

She smiled to my question, in a way which was a mixture of pity and compassion and mischievousness.

“Because life is absurd. Our lives are full of unfairness, injustice, and unreasonable tragedies. It’s never going to be like happily-ever-after. And the arts, especially dramas, need to stand with people those in an absurdity.”

“Hmmm….” I got confused. I could understood the logic of what she has just said, but I didn’t quite comprehend if that was the answer for my question.

Nearly 20 years after the graduation, I began to understand what she meant. After going through some strife in life, I realized that sometimes we need raw, absurd, tragic story to get through difficult times. I still love conventional stories with happily-ever-after, but I enjoy reading or watching absurd theatre time to time.