Toshiki Okada Named Artistic Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Debuts New Work 'A Zombie Play About Making a Movie'

Japanese theatre director Toshiki Okada has been announced as the new artistic director of the stage arts division at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, a position he will assume in April 2026. His inaugural production in this role, 'A Zombie Play About Making a Movie' (Sliding Away), will run from August 7–23, 2026, at Theatre East in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district.

The experimental work reimagines a zombie film production set, where five zombies seeking to create 'a film by zombies, for zombies' confront the human audience with philosophical questions about normalcy and humanity. The production explores the asymmetry between zombies and humans, questioning who determines what is normal and human, and proposing that the problem may lie not with zombies but with humanity itself. Okada's vision reflects his long-standing commitment to theatrical innovation, with the director stating his belief that theatre possesses untapped potential beyond its current realizations.

The production is adapted from Okada's latest work 'Sliding Away,' which premiered at Hanover State Theatre in Germany in May 2026. While maintaining the original text, the Japanese version features new creative collaborators including composer Hirohiro Kawase and costume designer Akiko Sukebe, both working with Okada for the first time. The five performers—Ayane Tomiya, Yoh Momose, Momoe Shimada, Asahi Ishikawa, and Kan Fukuhara—were selected through workshop auditions and represent their first collaboration with Okada. Notably, the German production featured three male and two female performers, while the Japanese cast reverses this ratio with two male and three female actors. Set design is handled by Dominic Huber, who has overseen all of Okada's German productions. The performance will feature English-language supertitles.