A party for (Asian) solidarity from the theater space

ZA-Party: ZA KOENJI Performing Arts Party is a platform organized by ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre that enables performing arts practitioners from across Asia to meet, gather, and build solidarity. By bringing together diverse contexts and practices, and facilitating repeated dialogue and experimentation, we envision this "party" to be a space where new relationships and bonds of solidarity emerge. Together, participants explore ways to play and share in the future of Asian performing arts.

First and foremost, ZA-Party aims to be an enduring community that fosters collaboration and solidarity. We strive not only to foster connections among individual participants, but also to make the theater itself a hub for these relationships. ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre seeks to maintain ties with participants even after the program concludes, working together to explore how their ideas, practices, and the seeds of collaboration might converge toward a shared outcome.

This outcome might take the form of a theatrical performance, or it could transcend the boundaries of genre and location, and extend beyond such conventional formats. Through a process of shared exploration with participants, ZA-Party aims to discover new forms of international co-production and collaborative projects facilitated by a theater space. Above all, we aspire to create an experimental space where we can playfully engage in the process—a place where it is safe to take on challenges and safe to fail.

Logomark of ZA-Party

Tokyo Festival Farm 2021
Farm-Lab Exhibition Work-in-Progress Performance “unversed smash”

Tokyo Festival Farm 2022
Farm-Lab Exhibition Exploratory Performance Presentation ”Education (in your language)”

Tokyo Festival Farm 2023
Asian Performing Arts Camp Final Presentation

◉ ZA KOENJI

ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre is a hub for the creation and dissemination of the performing arts, and serves as a center for community-based cultural activities in Suginami City. We offer a wide range of programs designed to connect people with the arts and promote artistic and cultural development, including performances of outstanding theatrical and dance productions, workshops, lectures, and the Acting Academy, while also supporting diverse artistic and cultural activities and exchange opportunities led by local residents.

The building itself was designed by Toyo Ito. One of the key concepts behind it is the traditional playhouse—a form to which Japanese avant-garde theater, beginning with groups such as Black Tent Theatre, which was co-founded by the venue's first artistic director, Makoto Sato, sought to return. The facility features a variety of open spaces, including three distinctive halls: ZA-KOENJI 1, a new type of small theater with a flexible layout that allows the stage and seating configurations to be freely adjusted according to the performance; ZA-KOENJ 2 , a user-friendly community hall with fixed seating; and the Awaodori Hall, designed to promote the Tokyo Koenji Awa Odori festival while also serving as a venue for dance and other performances. The theater also houses facilities to support creative production, such as rehearsal rooms, costume workshops, set construction studios, and sound/video production rooms, as well as an archive for collecting and preserving contemporary play manuscripts. Additionally, the on-site Maaarui Cafe features a piano, hosts live events, and serves a menu that incorporates local Suginami vegetables.

> https://za-koenji.jp/