Rob Urbinati

He is a freelance playwright, screenwriter, book author, and theater director based in New York City.

He is the Director of New Play Development at Queens Theatre. One of his publications is Play Readings: A Complete Guide for Theatre Practitioners.

NAGAYAMA Tomoyuki

NAGAYAMA Tomoyuki was born in 1967. Playwright and director. He is the representative of Kofuku Theatre Company, which franchises the Mimata Town Culture Arts Center in Miyazaki Prefecture. NAGAYAMA won the AAF Drama Award in 2001 for so bad year. He also served as theatre director of the public interest incorporated foundation Miyazaki Prefectural Arts Theatre for about 10 years, starting in 2006.

In 2007, the theatre company began creating productions where people with disabilities also participated as actors (Miyazaki ◎Marui Theater). It has received high acclaim for both the quality of its work and the social reach of its activities.

In April 2022, his first collection of plays, Romance/ Ikita Hito/ Neko wo Sagasu (Jiritsu-Shobo), was published.

OOKA Jun

OOKA Jun is a director, playwright and critic, born in 1970 in Hyogo Prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy, specialising in philosophy. He is currently a staff member of the Department of Literature at SPAC—Shizuoka Performing Arts Center, an advisor to ZERO-MEGA CO.,LTD., an advisor to the editorial department of Bukyu Publishing Company and a tutor at Kawaijuku COSMO (private tutoring school). Major works of plays include Gekidan Watanabe's Teikoku (directed by WATANABE Ryoji / 2010), SPAC's Ookoku, Sora wo Tobu! (directed by OOKA Jun / 2015), SPAC's 1940 – Richard Strauss Villa – (directed by MIYAGI Satoshi / 2017), etc. His translation work includes The Three-Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht (published by editorial republica, 2018).

SAKAMOTO Rin

SAKAMOTO Rin is a playwright, director, representative of the theatre company Dalmatian and leader of Playwrights' Women's Association.

She was born in 1982 and is from Kumamoto Prefecture. SAKAMOTO is a part-time lecturer at Showa University of Music and a lecturer at Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music. She teaches a class of 'Let's Write a Script!’ at NHK Cultural Centre.

She has provided scripts to children's theatre companies and puppet theatre companies such as Himawari Theatre Group, KAWASEMIZA Puppetry and Poplar Theatre Company. She is also active in education, serving as a judge at junior high school drama presentations and high school drama competitions.

In 2018, she started a playwriting study group, which she switched to an online version in 2020. In 2022, more than 40 full-year students gathered for a total of 12 online courses.