Izumi Ashizawa Performance

“Ashizawa’s direction have the same kind of ritualistic beauty that one might find in a Japanese tea ceremony”---AmericanTheatre Web

 

"She’s bold. She’s impressionistic, and she demanding of your attention. The artistic stylings, reputation, and international acclaim of Izumi Ashizawa is that of a woman of many talents and of one who wears many hats."---DC Metro Theater Arts

 

"Director Izumi Ashizawa packs some fetching coups de théâtre into 'Kwaidan,' an ingeniously devised and well-executed Japanese ghost-story fantasia"---Washington Post

 

“Extremely talented…the masks are present, the painstaking movement, the elaborate costumes”---New York Theatre.com

 

"Dreams in the Arms of the Binding Lady is a triumphant display of some serious artistry. "---DC Theatre Scene

 

"Izumi Ashizawa has created a gut-wrenching realm of discovery where commonsense is thrown aside and your latent instincts are awakened."---DC Metro Theater Arts

 

“There is a spell cast by Noh drama that first slows then condenses time, so that as the plot progresses (usually a romance), the heart opens to it like a lotus or, in the case of the Fringe production of The Blue Rocks, like an American rose. Written, directed, designed, masked, and costumed by Izumi Ashizawa, this stylized story of seduction and abandonment jumbles the senses as in a dream, intensified by the bewitching and original score by Simos Papanas, as mixed by Sabrina McGuigan and finished by Matthew Daline (think John Cage in Japan).”---Backstage

 

“It is the clearness, the patience and the motivation that justify her work as a director, making you start searching her plays as if they were healing water.”---Man In Fest Magazine

 

 “Izumi Ashizawa’s The Blue Rocks…told the ancient Greek myth of Jason and the clashing rocks through a moody variation of the Japanese Noh acting style…masks, evocative movement and an excellent sound design made this a worthwhile rethinking of an age-old yarn of adventure and betrayal”---New Haven Advocate 

 

"Gilgamesh is a powerful epic story combined with the visionary choreography of Izumi Ashizawa. Add to that multi-talented dancer/actors who show an incredible amount of spiritual dedication to the performance and a set which functions as a separate character, and you have an evening of transformational theatre"--- Brand Tampa

 

"IKilL packs a wallop in only 40 minutes. Conceived and directed by Izumi Ashizawa, the production employs a young high-energy and athletic cast to remind us how war affects everyone – soldiers, enemies, injured civilians, and women and children. is an optimist and believes that reconciliation can happen and enemies can learn to co-exist peacefully"---MD Theatre Guide

 

“Anyone interested in an amazing evening at the theater – an unusual one that is difficult to describe – must see KWAIDAN… The sensation of traveling to a mysterious place, half in light and half in shadow, and not fully a part of the physical world, is the reason to attend KWAIDAN. I almost believed that I, too, had left the earthly plane, along with the characters.”---Broadway World

 

“Hauntingly beautiful… Director Izumi Ashizawa, adapting the stories along with Richard Henrich, tenderly brings out the heart and soul of all of tales while keeping a sense of flow for the audience.”---DC Theatre Scene

 

“The show conjures up an otherworldly atmosphere that makes it intoxicating.”---Washington City Paper

 

“Be spirited away to a haunted Meiji era Japan.”---DCist