Krisztina Rosner is a Tokyo-based Hungarian researcher and practitioner of contemporary performing arts. She wrote her PhD thesis on the actor’s presence and the performative aspects of silence in 2011. Her current research focuses on the performer’s presence, the non-human and neo-human aspects of contemporary Japanese theatre: robot and android theatre, traditional monkey theatre, transmedia performance.
In her activity, she uses a practice as research approach, continuously working as acting coach, director, actor. She is the founder of Tokyo Acting Class. She has been leading workshops in the United States, Japan, and Europe, and took part in numerous performing arts programs: she worked with the renowned theatre director Robert Wilson at his Watermill Center (2006, 2007, 2008). In New York she participated in the SITI Company Suzuki/Viewpoints workshop (2008), and took part in the Lincoln Center Directors Lab (2010). She was an actor in the production written and directed by Toshiki Okada (chelfitsch) for non-native actors using Japanese (2023)
After working as senior lecturer of theatre studies at the University of Pecs (HU) between 2005-2018, since 2017 she has been a lecturer in comparative cultural studies and contemporary performing arts at the School of Global Japanese Studies at Meiji University in Tokyo.
Grants include: UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary for Performing Artists (2006), “Eotvos” Hungarian State Research Grant (2008), Hungarian Academy of Science Book Publication Grant (2011), Japan Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Hosei University, Tokyo, 2014), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Waseda University 2015-2017).
CURRICULUM VITAE
DEGREES:
2011 PhD in Theatre and Literature Studies, University of Pécs; thesis: A színészi jelenlét és a csend dramatikus-teátrális játékai (Silence and the Performer’s Presence on Stage)
2002 MA in Aesthetics, Theatre specialization and Pedagogy, University of Pécs; MA thesis: A színészképzés elmélete és gyakorlata a 19. század magyar színésztankönyveiben (Hungarian Actor Training Methods in the 19th century)
1996 graduation drama-theatre specialization (Horváth Mihály High School, Szentes, Hungary)
ACADEMIC POSITIONS AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
2018- present Center for Contemporary Japanese Performing Arts Research, Meiji University, founding member
2017- present Lecturer, School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
2015-2017 Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
2011-2018 Associate Professor, Department of Modern Literatures and Literary Studies, University of Pécs (HU)
2005-2011 Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Literatures and Literary Studies, University of Pécs (HU)
2006-2007 Acting and Vocal Skills Coach, Liberal Arts High School, Dance Faculty, Pécs (Hu)
GRANTS, AWARDS:
2015-2017 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
2014 Japan Foundation, Japanese Studies Fellowship, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Hungarian Academy of Science, Publication Grant
2008 Eötvös Hungarian State Scholarship (New York, USA – 3 months)
2006 UNESCO – Aschberg bursary for performing artists (Watermill Summer Program, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, New York, USA - 1 month)
2002-2005 PhD scholarship, Theatre Studies Doctoral Program, Literature Studies Doctoral School, Pécs
2000 Festival of University Theatres, Pécs – best actress
1999 Festival of University Theatres, Pécs – best actress
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
Meiji University (Japan)
Waseda University (Japan)
Hosei University (Japan)
Japan Foundation Japanese Studies Fellowship Alumni (Japan)
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows Plaza (Japan)
Performance Studies International (USA)
Watermill Center Artists (USA)
Lincoln Center Directors Lab (USA)
Dramaturg Japan Network (Japan)
Seinendan Company, Murinkan workshop class (Japan)
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Section of Linguistics and Literary Scholarship, Committee on Dramatic Studies and Cinematography
Regional Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences of Pécs (Hungary)
Hungarian Association of Theatre Practitioners (Hungary)
CONFERENCES:
(selected list)
2022 Theatre, Documentation, Memory: Theatre Studies Conference, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary - panel curator and presenter "COVID Timeline and Documentation as Life Sign: Contemporary Japanese Theatre in the Years of the Pandemic (COVIDővonal és a dokumentáció mint életjel: a kortárs japán színház a pandémia éveiben)
Art in the Countryside: Symposium on Art and Regional Revitalization through Case Studies from Japan, German Institute of Japanese Studies, Tokyo - Turning Inward as a Coping Mechanism: Physicality and Pandemic in the Tōhoku Region
Living Being and its Environment: Symposium on Animals and Arts, Westwerk Cultural Association, Szombathely, Hungary - Flea Circus and its peers: Insects in Contemporary Performing Arts (Bolhacirkusz - Rovarok a kortárs előadás terében)
2020 Japan Pilgrimages: Experiences and motivations behind cultural and spiritual peregrinations from and to East Asia, Mutual Images, Ryukoku University, Kyoto - The Case of the Standing Monkey and the Walkman - Reconsidering a commercial
Robotics and Performing Arts: The Nonhuman Challenge, symposium and special lecture by GV Lab, Meiji University, Tokyo (organizer, host)
Ecotique International Workshop on Robotics and Philosophy, Tokyo - Taming Gestures and the Not-So-Cute Coexistence, Nonhuman-Nonhuman Performativity
2018 Performance Studies International conference, Daegu, South Korea - Tokyo Animals and Taming Gestures: The Network of Pet Performativity in Contemporary Japan
2017 Japan Pop Goes Global, Toyama Gakuin University, Tokyo - Layers of Traditional in the Popular Performing Arts; Object and Voice as Character - Vocaloid Opera Aoi
2016 "A Glass Falls Off the Table: Nonhuman Performativity - New Perspectives, Performance Studies International conference, Melbourne - panel curator
Performance Studies International conference, Melbourne - Object And Voice as Character: Vocaloid Opera AOI
Deutschland, Japan, Russland heute: Formen kultureller Begegnungen in den Gegenwartslyrik, Waseda University, Tokyo - The Poetics of Nonhuman Performance (joint presentation with Professor Shintaro Fujii)
2015 Performance Robot Dramaturgy, Tokyo / New York, Discussion and workshop, Martin E. Segal Center - CUNY Graduate Center, New York - On Insects and Androids: The Corporeal Presence of the Organic and Inorganic Other
Performance Studies International 2015 Tohoku - Beyond Contamination: Corporeality, Spirituality and Pilgrimage in Northern Japan, Aomori - A Fly in the Light: The Corporeal Presence of the Organic and Inorganic Other
"Dis-, Re-, Unorganized Spaces in Contemporary Theatre and Drama", Pécs (organizer and presentation) - A káosz (újra-) rendeződő terei - Térkoncepciók a 2011 utáni japán színházban
International Japanese Studies Conference "Building Connections Between Central and Eastern Europe", Eötvös Loránd University - Japan Foundation, Budapest- Sharing Space with the Other - Concepts of Performative Presence in Oriza Hirata's Robot Theatre
2013 “Comedy of Errors”: Error, Mistake, Misunderstanding and Theatre, Pécs (organizer and presentation) - Vice or not: Az elutasítás formái a színházalkotói folyamatban (Forms of Refusal in the Creative Process of Theatre)
2012 “The Actor is Dead, Long Live the Actor”, The 14th International Symposium of Theatre Critics and Theatre Scholars, Novi Sad, Serbia – title of presentation: The Space between Presences
“Theatre and Higher Education in Pécs – 25th Anniversary”, Pécs (organizer and presentation): Légy a fényben – Színre vitt állatok (Animals on Stage)
2011 “Reconstruction as Education”, Pécs (organizer and presentation): Hamlet, monológ, tárgyanimáció (Hamlet, Monologue, Object Animation)
2009 “Contemporary Theatre Studies”, Pécs (organizer and presentation): A csend szerepe a drámában és színházban – Gombrowitz, Beckett, Wilson (The Silence in Theatre and in Plays – Gombrowitz, Beckett, Wilson)
2006 “Brecht, our Contemporary”, Pécs (organizer and presentation): Brecht a színészről (Brecht on the Actor)
2004 “Spaces, Images – The Modern City”, Pécs (organizer and presenter): Tettyei népünnepélyek a múlt századfordulón (Public Happenings in Pécs in the beginning of 20th Century)
2003 TRANSTEATRAL – Contemporary Theatre Conference, Prague – Methods and Problems of Hungarian Actor Training
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATION:
(selected list)
2022 Theatre Workshop for Foreigners in Japan Using Japanese, leader: Toshiki Okada, Chelfitsch, Tokyo - participant
2017 Kinetic Force Method intensive dance workshop by Hiroaki Umeda, Tokyo, Japan - participant
2016 "Quiet Microclimate / Silent Room" installation, Performance Studies International conference, Melbourne, Australia - director
2015 "Presence and Focus" workshop, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan - leader
2015-2017 Seinendan Company Murinkan workshop class with Oriza Hirata, Tokyo, Japan - participant
2014 “Presence and Focus” workshop for Japanese Actors, Tokyo Japan - workshop leader
Noguchi Taiso classes by Hideo Arai, Tokyo, Japan - participant
Noguchi Taiso workshop by Mari Osanai, Aomori, Japan - participant
Performing Arts Meeting (TPAM), Yokohama, Japan - participant
2010 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, New York, USA – participant
2008 “Viewpoints” intensive theatre workshop, SITI Company, New York, USA – participant
Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, directed by Robert Wilson, Stage 1 dramaturg and research assistant, Watermill Center, New York, USA - participant
Watermill Center Summer Program, Oral Histories Research Project, New York, USA - researcher
2007 research project on Robert Wilson’s work at Watermill Center (supported by Byrd Hoffmann Watermill Foundation, New York) - researcher
2006 UNESCO – Aschberg bursary for performing artists: Watermill Summer Program with Robert Wilson, Watermill Center, New York, USA – performer
2005 Director’s Laboratory: Improvisation & Spontaneity in Performing Arts: a workshop of International University of Global Theatre Experience, Malpils, Latvia – participant
2004 EDERED – 8th European Youth Theatre Encounter, Velm, Austria – workshop leader
2003 Min Tanaka's butoh course, International Body & Dance Workshop, Palic, Serbia – participant
Prague Quadriennal, Prague, Czech Republic - participant
2002 Interplay - Festival of Young European Playwrights, Pecs, Hungary
EXPERIENCE IN DIRECTING:
2022 Momoko Takeda: LOVE - NO FILTER, J-Pest Pandeminar Series, Zoom reading
2016 Guyashu wo sagasu kotoba, karada, kokoro, Nabegen Theatre Company, Aomori, Japan
2016 "Quiet Microclimate / Silent Room" installation, Performance Studies International conference, Melbourne, Australia
2013 Lilla Falussy: Metadolce - Deutsche Bühne Ungarn, Szekszárd (in German)
2012 NIKI (Apartment/Performance) - Pécs Airlines, Pécs
2012 EXIT (A Pulp Play) – Pécs Airlines, Janus University Theatre, Pécs
2010 Street Window (Hommàge à Erzsébet Schaár) – Pécs Airlines, HattyúHáz Gallery, Pécs
2010 Oops A Purse (Clown Revue for Adults) – Pécs Airlines, Pécs (creative collaborator)
2009 Virág Erdős: Madame Poe (rehearsed reading) – Cella Septichora, Pécs
2008 Come/Go (based on Come and Go by Beckett) – Janus University Theatre, Pécs
2007 Something Witkacy (based on Example Play by Witkiewitz) – Janus University Theatre, Pécs
2007 Martin McDonagh: The Pillowman (rehearsed reading) – Pécs, Bóbita Puppet Theatre, Pécs
2006 Two Faces of Edith Piaf (stage adaptation) – Pécs
2005 Cecilie Løveid: Ludwig W (rehearsed reading) – Pécs
2004 WirR – Velm-Vienna, Austria
EXPERIENCE IN ACTING:
(selected list):
2023 The Window of Spaceship 'In-Between', chelfitsch, dir. Toshiki Okada, Kichijoji Theatre, Tokyo
2022 Momoko Takeda: LOVE - NO FILTER (Shiori Tomita), J-Pest Pandeminar Series, Zoom reading
2020 Sūji Terayama - Rio Kishida: A Journal of the Plague Year (Forgotten Woman), Association of Asian Performance Conference, online reading
2016 Guyashu wo sagasu kotoba, karada, kokoro, Nabegen Theatre Company, Aomori, Japan
2006 He Who Says Yes, He Who Says No, Performance on Brecht and his women, House of Arts, Pécs
2005 Luigi Pirandello: Mountain Giants (Spizzi, Mara-Mara), Shadow Theatre, Pécs
2005 Four Scenes by Ferenc Molnár, Oberon Theatre, Pécs
2004 Line Knutzon: Time is coming (Oda) Shadow Theatre, Pécs
2002 Erich Kästner: Lisa and Lottie (Lottie) Forrás Theatre, Győr
2001 Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story (Anybody’s), National Theatre, Pécs
1999 Georg Büchner: Leonce and Lena (Rosetta), Janus University Theatre, Pécs
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2022 founder of Tokyo Acting Class, Tokyo
2015 scriptwriter, dramaturg, Donkey Xote, Mars Motion Pictures, Budapest
2013 dramaturg, Az ember tr, Bóbita Puppet Theatre, Pécs
2011 Theatre/Audience/Education, a series of introduction to theatre, director, Pécs
2011 dramaturg, Szeleburdi Gáspár, Bóbita Puppet Theatre, Pécs
2011 leader of the Critics Workshop “Instant Feedback”, National Student Theatre Festival
2010 selector jury, US in Focus, Contemporary Drama Festival, Budapest
2009 founder artistic director of Pécs Airlines Theatre Group
2009 leader of the Critics Workshop “Instant Feedback”, National Student Theatre Festival
2007 leader of the Critics Workshop “Instant Feedback”, National Student Theatre Festival
INVITED LECTURES:
2022 Technology and Theatre: Contemporary Japanese Performing Arts, Free Association of the former Academy of Dramatic and Film Arts, Budapest
2020 Technology and Transmedia Dramaturgy in Contemporary Japanese Performing Arts, Mahindra Humanities Center Transmedia Seminar, Harvard University
2014 "Mást lát" - A Lecture on Contemporary Japanese Theatre, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Art Studies, Budapest, Hungary
2014 "Identity, Expterience - Being a Hungarian in Japan", University of Pecs, Hungary
2014 "Mást lát" - A lecture on Contemporary Japanese Theatre, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary
2013 On Contemporary Theatre, Szentes Public Library, Szentes, Hungary
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY:
Hungarian (native speaker)
English (native level)
Japanese (intermediate, JLPT N3, J-CAT 216 points)
French (competent)
German (competent)