is a Japanese playwright, stage director, and the co-founder and leader of the theater company Nitosha. She is known for adopting realism as her primary writing style. Two of her major works, and , both exemplify her utilization of realism.
According to The Japan Foundation's Performing Arts Network, Nagai is currently regarded as one of the most sought-after playwrights in Japan because of her "well-made plays," in which social issues are treated from a critical perspective.
Life and work
Early life
Ai Nagai was born on October 16, 1951, in Tokyo, as the daughter of a painter and a member of the Communist Party, Kiyoshi Nagai. Since her parents divorced when she was still young, she was raised by her father and her paternal grandmother, Shizu Nagai. Her father's connections with the theater world when she was young influenced her to take on a path to a theatrical career. In , the character Grandmother Nobu is modeled on Nagai's own grandmother. Also, in , Nagai writes about her grandmother's experiences at a teachers college.
After graduating high school, she became a member of the Friends of the Haiyu-za theater company, which enabled her to watch all the company's productions. In 1970, Nagai studied at the theater department of Tōhō Gakuen College for four years, including two years in the postgraduate drama program. The theater department used to be an acting school that was affiliated with the Haiyu-za, where many professional actors had been trained. She chose this college because she became a fan of the actress Etsuko Ichihara and aspired to become a member of the Haiyu-za company. As the popularity of the "Angura" (underground) theater movement grew, she attended performances at small underground theaters. Examples include Jūrō Kara's Jōkyō Gekijo, Kuro Tento and Ren Saitō's Jiyū Gekijō. Seeing these types of performances made her lose her aspirations of joining a theater company of the Shingeki genre.
After graduating in 1974, Nagai was invited to join the theater company, Spring and Autumn Group (Shunjūdan), where she met Shizuka Ōishi. Since the company disbanded after two years, Nagai and Ōishi decided to write and produce their own plays.
Nitosha Theatre Company
In 1981, Nitosha (The Two Rabbits) Company was established as a theater company. Nagai and Ōishi named their theater company "Nitosha" because they were both born in the Year of the Rabbit. They also acted in original Nitosha productions as they alternate as playwrights. Their quick-changing two women shows such as helped them gain popularity. In 1991, Ōishi left the company to have a career in TV scenario writing. This left Nagai to direct her own plays herself for Nitosha's productions. This company is still active and it is located in Nerima, Tokyo. Nitosha has consistently provided plays that do not only entertain the audience but also make them feel actually involved and committed to the issues presented on stage.
Theatrical career
Nitosha continues to put works on stage as Nagai writes and directs them. Other organizations like the New National Theatre, Tokyo benefits from her works because she writes for them too. Nagai also used to be the president of the Japan Playwrights Association.
Nagai is active in other countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Korea. Her plays are also presented as staged readings. For example, on February 22, 2010, Japan Society in New York read the English translation of in an English translation developed in late 2007.
Time's Storeroom
Nagai's portrayed tough times faced by ordinary Japanese people as they evolve as a response to the turning points of Japanese history. Examples include the immediate aftermath of Japan's defeat in World War II, the high-growth period of Japanese economy, and the final period of campus riots in 1970 against the renewal of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty
The trilogy consists of these three plays: , in which she depicts the first half of the 1960s; , in which she depicts the period immediately after World War II; and , in which she depicts life in the early 1970s. The characters in these works are not interrelated, but Nagai's approach is consistent because the postwar social issues and the plays' significance are portrayed by a particular family or by the events in an apartment building, their living conditions, and what they lost as Japan prioritizes the economic growth in the postwar period.