Michio Kato

Playwright. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. While studying English at Keio University, he was involved in theater activities with Hiroshi Akutagawa and others. He began writing his first play, Nayotake, while enrolled in graduate school there, and entrusted it to a friend just before he was drafted in 1944 (Showa 19). After World War II, while teaching at his alma mater and Meiji University, he formed the theater company Mugi no Kai with Akutagawa and others, and after publishing Episode (1948), he joined the Bungakuza Theater Company, and published plays such as Memories of a Selling Man (1951), Rags and Jewel (1952), and Loss of Homeland (1952), as well as being active in criticism, direction, and translation. He committed suicide on December 22, 1953. His pure theatrical ideals also became the spiritual pillar of the founding of the Shiki Theater Company.

[Tsutomu Ohshima]

"The Complete Works of Michio Kato, 2 volumes (1983, Seidosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

劇作家。福岡県に生まれる。慶応義塾大学英文科在学中から芥川比呂志(あくたがわひろし)らと演劇活動に従事。同大学院在籍中に処女戯曲『なよたけ』を書き始め、1944年（昭和19）応召直前に友人に託した。第二次世界大戦後は母校と明治大学講師のかたわら芥川らと劇団麦の会を結成、『挿話――エピソオド』（1948）発表後文学座に入り、『思ひ出を売る男』（1951）、『襤褸(ぼろ)と宝石』（1952）、『祖国喪失』（1952）などの戯曲を発表するほか、評論、演出、翻訳にも活躍した。昭和28年12月22日自殺。その純粋な演劇理念は劇団四季創立の精神的支柱ともなった。

［大島　勉］

『『加藤道夫全集』全二巻（1983・青土社）』

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