BoD Episode 21: Aya Ogawa
Aya Ogawa is a multi-award-winning Brooklyn-based playwright, director, performer and translator whose work reflects an international viewpoint and utilizes the stage as a space for exploring cultural identity and the immigrant experience. Cumulatively, all aspects of their artistic practice synthesize their work as an artistic and cultural ambassador, building bridges across cultures to create meaningful exchange amongst artists, theaters and audiences both in the U.S. and in Asia. They challenge traditional notions of the American aesthetic and identity by creating performances infused with a multiplicity of perspectives and languages, and by incorporating influences from outside the U.S. – of style, form, and content. As a theater-maker, they frequently uses a collaborative creative process with performers and designers and pushes the form with an eye not only on spoken text, but physicality, musicality, and interactivity.
As playwright/director in New York City, Ogawa’s 2003 A GIRL OF 16 [http://aya-ogawa.squarespace.com/projects#/a-girl-of-16] (Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center) was hailed by The New York Times for its “stunning visual sense.” Their 2008 OPH3LIA [https://www.ayaogawa.com/oph3lia] (HERE) was called “riotously alive…great theater” by The New York Times. Their ARTIFACT [https://www.ayaogawa.com/artifact] was featured in CUNY’s 2007 Prelude Festival and the 2009 Performance Mix Festival (Joyce Soho). They were commissioned by The Foundry Theatre to create a work in collaboration with Adhikaar, a human rights organization serving the US Nepali community. The resulting piece, JOURNEY TO THE OCEAN [https://www.ayaogawa.com/journey-to-the-ocean], was presented by The Rubin Museum in 2011. Their play LUDIC PROXY [http://www.ayaogawa.com/original-projects/#/ludic-proxy/] commissioned by The Play Company, explored humankind’s relationship to technology (from nuclear power to VR and video games) through the events of Chernobyl, Fukushima, and into the future. Its 2015 premiere at WalkerSpace was described as “beautifully conceived” by the NYTimes. They were a playwright in residence at The New Museum for X:ID a research-driven pop-up repertory theater designed to examine the shifting ethical boundaries surrounding intercultural cross-play on contemporary American stages. They wrote, directed and performed in the 6-person cast for their Obie Award-winning play THE NOSEBLEED [http://ayaogawa.com/projects#/nosebleed](Under the Radar Festival 2019; Japan Society & Chocolate Factory Theatre 2021; Lincoln Center Theatre LCT3 2022; Woolly Mammoth Theater 2023). Their latest creation, MEAT SUIT [https://www.ayaogawa.com/meat-suit] premiered with Second Stage [https://2st.com/shows/meat-suit] in February 2026.
As a director they directed Haruna Lee’s Obie Award-winning play SUICIDE FOREST [https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/suicide-forest]in its world premiere production at The Bushwick Starr in 2019 and its off-Broadway remount with Ma-Yi in 2020. 9000 Paper Balloons [https://www.ayaogawa.com/9kpb] (co-created by Spencer Lott and Maiko Kikuchi) was released as a puppet performance film by HERE in November 2021 and ran at Japan Society in October 2022. In Decmeber 2024 they directed Dan Fishback’s Dan Fishback is Alive, Unwell and Living in His Apartment [https://danfishbackisalive.com/] at Joe’s Pub. Upcoming work includes Jared Mezzocchi [https://www.jaredmezzocchi.com/]’s one-person play 73 Seconds, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig [https://francesyachucowhig.com/]’s historical epic The Unsinkable, and Haruna Lee [https://www.harunalee.com/]’s 49 Days.
As a translator they have been commissioned to translate numerous Japanese plays [https://www.ayaogawa.com/translations] into English that have been produced in the U.S. and London, including over a dozen plays by Toshiki Okada, writer/director of chelfitsch theater company. Time Out called their rendition of Okada’s ENJOY [https://www.ayaogawa.com/enjoy] (Play Company at 59E59, 2010; published by Samuel French) an “effortless, idiomatic translation”; The Village Voice hailed their translation of Okada’s FIVE DAYS IN MARCH [https://www.ayaogawa.com/five-days-in-march] (Witness Relocation at LaMama, 2010) as “a miracle of transposed idiom.” Their translation of Okada’s ZERO COST HOUSE [https://www.ayaogawa.com/zero-cost-house] was presented at Philly Live Arts 2012, Under the Radar Festival 2013 and Yokohama, Japan. From 2014-2024 they served on the selection committee for the Japan Playwrights Association’s publication series ENGEKI: Japanese Theatre in the New Millennium.
Aya has performed nationally and internationally. They originated and performed numerous roles with the International WOW Company including JR Oppenheimer in The Bomb and the title role in Alice’s Evidence. Time Out NY hailed their performance as Chomsky in The Loneliness of Noam Chomsky [https://www.culturebot.org/2004/02/55/the-loneliness-of-noam-chomsky/] by the Butane Group. International credits include their role in the world premiere of the award-winning Emperor and Kiss with Rinko-Gun Company, Tokyo; they were selected as part of the artist team representing the U.S. at the International Theater Institute’s 2006 Congress in Manila and 2008 Congress in Madrid for which they co-created and performed in the resulting collaborative pieces; and the European premiere of Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragon Flying to Heaven at the Vienna Festival. More recently they performed in the first season of Shaina Feinberg’s web series Dinette [https://www.bricartsmedia.org/tv-shows-videos/dinette] and in their own play The Nosebleed.
They are the recipient of the 2025 Doris Duke Artist Award [https://ddaa.dorisduke.org/], 2023 Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting [https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/09/15/4-playwrights-receive-2023-helen-merrill-awards/#:~:text=Established%20as%20a%20fund%20through,totaling%20more%20than%20%242.4%20million.]; 2023 OBIE Award [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhznbX5uK-Q] for the conception, writing and direction of The Nosebleed; 2023 Grants to Artists [https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/aya-ogawa/]from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts; The 2023-24 Playwrights’ Center’s McKnight National Residency and Commission [https://pwcenter.org/news/playwrights%E2%80%99-center-announces-mcknight-fellows-playwriting-mcknight-national-residency]; MacDowell [https://playbill.com/article/18-theatre-artists-among-recipients-of-2023-macdowell-fellowships] Fellow; The 2022-23 Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity at Lincoln Center Theater; MAP Fund grants; 2015 President’s Award for Performing Arts, WorkSpace grant and three Swing Space grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; an Artistic Fellowship at New York Theater Workshop (where they are now a Usual Suspect); the Van Lier Fellowship and 2017-2026 Resident Playwright at New Dramatists [https://newdramatists.org/aya-ogawa]; a HERE Artist Residency; Artist in Residence 2017-2019, 2017 Parent Artist Space Grantee and Space Grantee at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX); support from NYSCA and the Urban Artist Initiative, and The Women's Film, TV and Theatre Fund by the City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). Aya served on the Obie Award committee for two seasons 2023-2025, and they’re glad to have their evenings back. They have been a guest artist/lecturer at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, UT Austin, Brown University, Mount Holyoke College, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh, New York University, University of Puget Sound, and Stony Brook University, as well as a mentor at The Orchard Project and Clubbed Thumb.
https://www.ayaogawa.com/
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This monthly gathering invites directors and other theatre makers to come together, share experiences, and seek advice in a supportive community. There is often an isolating nature to directing, and this new space aims to foster connection and collaboration. The Board of Directors is an opportunity to set aside time each month to be alongside members of the Directing community all over the world.
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Show Credits
Host: Adam Marple
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com/home
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