Yukio Ninagawa

Yukio Ninagawa
蜷川 幸雄
Born(1935-10-15)October 15, 1935
DiedMay 12, 2016(2016-05-12) (aged 80)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupation(s)Theatre director, film director, actor
Years active1969–2016
SpouseTomoko Mayama
FamilyMika Ninagawa (daughter)
Toshimitsu Picasso (relative)
Websitewww.ninagawayukio.com

Yukio Ninagawa (蜷川 幸雄, Ninagawa Yukio, October 15, 1935 – May 12, 2016) was a Japanese theatre director, actor and film director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He directed eight distinct renditions of Hamlet. Ninagawa was also emeritus of the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music.

Although most famous abroad for his touring productions of European classics, Ninagawa also directed works based on contemporary writing from Japan, including the Modern Noh plays of Yukio Mishima (which toured to New York's Lincoln Center in early summer 2005) and several other plays by Japanese dramatists, including Shūji Terayama and Kunio Shimizu. His production of Titus Andronicus was performed in England in June 2006, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford and the Theatre Royal in Plymouth. In 2007 his company participated in the Barbican International Theatre Event (BITE) series at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, with their production of Coriolanus.