My research interests concern post-war and contemporary Japanese theatre and performance, postdramatic theatre, aurality, multilingual theatre, theatre and migration, rehearsal methods and liminality in theatre-making and research. I have published in Asian Theatre Journal, Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques, Theater Journal, Theatre Research International and Etudes. For my PhD project, I am researching dramaturgies of crossing borders in the works of Japanese-Peruvian playwright and director Yudai Kamisato, using Japanese and European theories and concepts. Kamisato's father is from Okinawa and mother is from Hokkaido. This is important as Kamisato is currently one of the very few theatre makers in Japan dealing with Okinawan history (independent kingdom, Japanese take over and US occupation). I also collaborate with Japanese theatre-makers and companies bridging the gap between theatre practice and academic research. Since 2023, I also co-organise Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange, a gathering between researchers and artists from both countries. From 2023 to 2025, I am the co-convenor of Asian Theatre Working Group of International Federation for Theatre Research. Together with Tokyo-based theatre director Yuta Hagiwara, I won 2023 Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei Prize for Japanese Theatre. My other research projects also include questioning the role of VR/AR/AI in performance making as part of an international collective of scholars and artists. Prior to academia, I worked as a theatre producer and a festival programmer in the UK and abroad. My encounters with contemporary Japanese theatre are documented on my blog which can be consulted at kiretsuzuki.com. 

Recent publications/conference papers/lectures:

Juraic, B. (2024) Performance Review: Contextualising Means Everything at Kunsten Festival. Critical Stages/Scènes critiques (30)

Juraic, B. (2024) Book Review: The Palgrave Handbook of Theatre and Migration. Theatre Research International. 49(2)

Juraic, B. (2024) Dramaturgies of Crossing Borders: Tragic Journeys Across Asia-Pacific in Yudai Kamisato's Theatre. In: 'Our States of Emergency: Theatres and Performances of Tragedy' IFTR Annual Conference. University of Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City. - presented on 18 July 2024.

Juraic, B. (2024) Yudai Kamisato's Experiments in Crossing Borders. In: PSi #29 Assemble!. The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in collaboration with LIFT (London International Theatre Festival). - workshop presentation together with Yudai Kamisato, presented on 22 June 2024.

Juraic, B. (2024) Performance Review: Imigure Kaidan (Immigrant Ghost Stories) by Yudai Kamisato. Asian Theatre Journal 41(1).

Juraic, B. (2024) Performance Review: Metamorphosis of a Living Room (Ribingu Rūmu no Metamorufōshizu) by Okada Toshiki (chelfitsch) and Dan Fujikura. Theatre Journal 75(4).

Juraic, B. (2023) Dramaturgies of Crossing Borders and Contemporary Japanese Theatre. LICA Research Seminar Series. Lancaster University, UK. - presentation delivered on 7 February 2024.

Juraic, B. (2023) Memory of Nanjing: Kamome Machine’s  Experiments in Sharing Thoughts. Etudes, 9(1).  (peer-reviewed article) in collaboration with Hagiwara, Yuta.

Juraic, B. (2023) Performance Review: Theater der Welt 2023—Dreaming Plural Worlds along the River Main. Critical Stages/Scènes critiques (28).

Juraic, B. (2023) 演劇とマイグレーションー神里雄大の演劇 (Theatre and Migration: Kamisato Yudai's Theatre). Lecture delivered online on 15 November 2023 at University of Tokyo. (invited)

Juraic, B. (2023) Ghosts of War: The Sounds of the Uncanny in Kamisato Yudai's Immigrant Ghost Stories. In: European Association for Japanese Studies 2023 Conference. University of Ghent, Belgium. - presented on 20 August 2023.

Juraic, B. (2023) The Stories from the Rehearsal Room: Deconstructing Yudai Kamisato's Immigrant Ghost Stories. In: 'The Stories We Tell - Myths, Mythmaking and Performance' IFTR Annual Conference, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. - presented on 26 July 2023.

Juraic, B. (2023) Crossing Borders: Embedded Research and Contemporary Japanese Theatre. In: NWCDTP PGRs Work-in Progress Conference. Lancaster Castle, Lancaster, UK. - presented on 6 June 2023

Juraic, B. (2023) Performance review: Kyoto Experiment: Re-thinking the Festival as a Constant Work-in-Progress. Critical Stages/Scènes critiques (27).

Juraic, B. (2023) Tourist as the Other: The Aesthetics of Crossing Borders in Contemporary Japanese Theatre. In: 1st Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts Conference. Lancaster University, UK. Presented on 11 May 2023. 

Juraic, B. (2023) Book review: Engeki - Japanese Theatre in the New Millenium Vol.5 and 6. Asian Theatre Journal, 40(1).

Juraic, B (2023) Memory of Nanjing: Kamome Machine’s Experiments in Sharing Thoughts Through Body. In: 15th Colloquium of the Asian Theatre Working Group, IFTR - War, Memory, and Theatre in Asia. National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan. Presented on 18 February 2023. (incl. workshop presentation with Kamome Machine theatre company, Tokyo.)

Juraic, B. (2022) Crossing Borders: Engaging with Contemporary Japanese Theatre. In: Conversations in Performance Studies: Performing Performance Research. University of Philippines- Diliman. Presented on 3 November 2022. (invited expert speaker)

Juraic, B. (2022) Theatre and Migration (演劇とマイグレーション). Kansai University. Lecture in Japanese and English delivered on 20 October 2022.

Juraic, B. (2022) Demythologising Japanese cultural symbols in Yudai Kamisato's Happy Prince Fish. In: Shifting Centres - In the Middle of Nowhere, IFTR World Congress, Reykjavik. - Presented on 22 June 2022 (pending publication)

Juraic, B. (2022) The Art of Farting: Japanese Satire as a Deconstruction of Japanese Identity. In: Japanese Comedy Symposium. University of Salford, UK. - Presented on 10 March 2022

Juraic, B. (2022)  Seeing through listening: Japanese immersive audio performances and engaging audiences in pandemic and post-pandemic context. In:  14th Colloquium of the Asian Theatre Working Group, IFTR: Towards a Post-COVID-19 Asian Theatres.  University of Philippines- Diliman. - Presented on 4 March 2022

Dramaturgies of Crossing Borders: Yudai Kamisato's Theatre In and Out of Japan

Prior to my academic career, I worked as a theatre and dance producer, festival programmer and reviewer for over 15 years. Between 2003 and 2009, I was the artistic director of a French-language international theatre festival in Croatia, a medium-scale festival where I was responsible for programme development. Parallel to running a festival, I reviewed international theatre for a leading Croatian theatre website Teatar.hr and had my own column. I have also collaborated with Japanese and Korean artists on the acclaimed Croatian premiere of Kōbō Abe’s Woman in the Dunes. In the UK, I produced a season of Edward Bond’s work, the English-language premieres of leading postdramatic works by playwrights Ivana Sajko, Elfriede Jelinek (for the 2012 London Olympics/Cultural Olympiad) and Werner Schwab. In addition, I organised and produced international tours for Croatian, North African and British theatre makers and companies. I was also the artistic director of a South-London theatre venue between 2014 and 2016 where I presented a season of contemporary North African theatre and the world premiere of Edward Bond’s last play Dea.

UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council / NWCDTP - Scholarship

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation - grant for fieldwork in Japan (2022)

UKRI AHRC/ North-West Consortium Doctorial Training Partnership - grant for fieldwork in Japan (2022) 

UKRI AHRC/ North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - conference attendance grant (2023) for IFTR

Graduate College Grant - conference attendance grant (2023) for EAJS

British Association for Japanese Studies - conference attendance grant (2023) for EAJS

UKRI AHRC/ North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - targeted funding for Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange project (2023)

Japan Foundation UK - grant for Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange project (2023)

UKRI AHRC / North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - targeted funding for Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange project (2024)

The Great-Britain Sasakawa Foundation - grant for Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange project (2024)

Daiwa-Anglo Foundation - grant for hosting Yudai Kamisato as part of Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange Project (2024)

Japan Foundation, Japan (head office) - grant for hosting Yudai Kamisato as part of Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange Project (2024)

Lancaster University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funds - conference attendance grant with Yudai Kamisato (2024) for PSi 29.

Lady Marks Charitable Trust - fieldwork research grant (2024-2025)

UKRI AHRC / North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - conference attendance grant (2024) for IFTR Manila

UKRI AHRC / North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - project grant (2024) for 'Standing, Walking, Seeing' exchange event with Tokyo-based performance artist Takuya Takemoto, and curator and dramaturg Yurika Kuremiya.

Japan Foundation, Japan (head office) - grant for hosting performance artist Takuya Takemoto and curator/dramaturg Yurika Kuremiya (2024)

Associate Fellow, AdvancedHE Higher Education Academy

MA in Japanese Studies (Distinction), SOAS, University of London

BA in Modern Languages - Japanese and French (First Class Honours), Birkbeck, University of London

LICA 102E - Fundamentals of Drama PART 1: Histories and Form

LICA 102F - Fundamentals of Drama PART 2: Social and Political Engagements