Hamlet | Toilet

Contemporary Theater | New York Premiere

Wednesday, January 10, 7:30 pm—Followed by an opening night reception—SOLD OUT
Friday, January 12, 7:30 pm—Followed by an artist Q&A
Saturday, January 13 at 2:30 & 7:30 pm

“[Yu Murai is] among Japan’s most innovative contemporary playwright-directors…” –Asian Theatre Journal

Written and directed by Yu Murai.

Playbill (PDF) →

Get ready for a night of laughs and literary mashups as Theater Company Kaimaku Pennant Race (KPR) returns to Japan Society with their latest production, Hamlet | Toilet. Led by the acclaimed playwright and director Yu Murai, KPR has become known for its nonsensical yet profound style that sensationally weaves Japanese pop culture into reimagined scenes from Shakespearean plays. After Romeo & Toilet blew audiences away in 2009 at the New York International Fringe Festival and Rocky Macbeth turned the Society’s stage into a boxing ring in 2019, KPR is set to debut the New York City premiere of their version of the renowned play.

Performed in Japanese with English supertitles.

Presented in partnership with  
Under the Radar Festival / utrfest.org

Hamlet | Toilet Preview:

Your ticket also includes complimentary, same-day admission for one person to Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus, on view at Japan Society Gallery through January 21, 2024. To view the exhibition please show your ticket/receipt to the Welcome Desk for free admission before the performance.

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Image: Hamlet | Toilet © Design by Kazunobu Uozumi, Illustration by Kotobuki Shiriagari, Photo by Takashi Ikemura.

Support for the international travel of Yu Murai and Theater Company Kaimaku Pennant Race for Hamlet/Toilet is provided by The Japan Foundation. Product support is generously provided by TOTO USA, INC.

2023-24 Performing Arts Season Support

The season is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Major support is generously provided by Doug and Teresa Peterson; Howard Gilman Foundation; and Hisamitsu America, Inc. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund, The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund, and the Endowment for the Performing Arts, established with a leadership gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Additional support is provided by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Richard and Momona Royce, Nancy and Joe Walker, Dr. and Mrs. Carl F. Taeusch II, Dr. Jeanette C. Takamura, Estate of Alan M. Suhonen, and Friends of the Performing Arts. All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. is the official airline of the Japan Society Performing Arts Program. Yamaha is the official piano provider of Japan Society.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.