My research interests concern post-war and contemporary Japanese theatre and performance, postdramatic theatre, aurality, multilingual theatre, theatre and migration and liminality in theatre-making and research. I have published in Asian Theatre Journal, Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques, Theater Journal and Etudes. For my PhD project, I am researching the dramaturgy of crossing borders in the works of Japanese playwright and director Yudai Kamisato, who was born in Peru, using Japanese and European theories and concepts. I am also interested in collaborations with Japanese theatre-makers and I am currently working with two Japanese theatre-makers and companies. Since 2023, I also co-organise Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange, a gathering between researchers and artists from both countries. 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: Metamorphosis of a Living Room (Ribingu Rūmu no Metamorufōshizu). 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
The Dramaturgy of Crossing Borders: The Disruption of Japaneseness in Contemporary Japanese Postdramatic Theatre with reference to Yudai Kamisato (working title)
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 reviewed Japanese theatre productions and collaborated with Japanese 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) 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 new play Dea.
Arts and Humanities Research Council NWCDTP - Scholarship
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation - grant for fieldwork in Japan (2022)
North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership - conference attendance grant (2023)
Graduate College Grant - conference attendance grant (2023)
British Association for Japanese Studies - conference attendance grant (2023)
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)
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
