Kurō Tanino

Born in Toyama in 1976 into a family of psychiatrists, Kurō Tanino founded the Niwa Gekidan Penino theatre company in 2000 with his fellow members of the Showa Medical University drama club. He then put an end to his career as a psychiatrist to devote himself fully to playwriting and directing. He created his first stage adaptation of the manga Dark Master by Caribu Marley and Haruki Izumi in 2003, under the title The Dark Master. Four other versions of the show followed in 2006, 2016, 2019 and 2020. With his company, he created Egao no Toride (2007) and Hoshikage no Jr. (2008). In 2009, he presented Frustrating Picture Book for Adults at the HAU festival in Germany, in 2010 at the Theaterspektakl in Switzerland, and in 2011 at the Next Arts Festival in France. In 2012, he presented The Room, Nobody knows at the Helsinki Festival. In 2014, he took part in the Festival Theater der Welt in Germany, and in the Wienerfestwochen with Box in The Big Trunk, which he presented at Kaserne Basel the same year. In 2015, he created KäfigausWasser in Krefeld, Germany, and Homage for Cantor by Tanino and Dwarves presented at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater.

He won the 60th Kishida Drama Award in 2016 for his play Avidya - L'Auberge de l'obscurité. The same year, he created the third version of The Dark Master. Both plays were presented at T2G as part of Japonismes 2018, with the Festival d'Automne in Paris. In 2021, he returns to Gennevilliers with La Forteresse du sourire.

Editions Espaces 34 has published The Dark Master and Avidya - L'Auberge de l'obscurité.