Biography
Born in Yokohama in 1973, Toshiki Okada earned his business degree at Keiô University. While he was still a student, he discovered the work of Oriza Hirata which was a big influence on him, and also that of Bertold Brecht.
He founded the chelfitsch company in 1997 in Yokohama ST Spot, whose name is derived from a childish pronunciation of the English word "selfish", where he works as playwright and theatrical producer.
Since 2001, Toshiki Okada uses Japanese slang in his plays as well as an almost choreographic language of movement which reproduces the way Japanese youth move. This stage work, which features oscillating and repetitive movements, has won over not only the theatrical milieu but also the world of dance, so that chelfitsch took part in the final of the Toyota Choreography Awards in 2005, in the category of "best young choreographer".
Toshiki Okada has notably produced the following live shows: "Marijuana no gai ni tsuite" in 2000, "Cooler" (presented at the Toyota Choreography Award 2005), "Destination" (Mokutekichi, 2005). In 2005, his play "Five Days in March" won the Kishida Drama Award. The jury appreciated his radical questioning of the theatre as system, as well as the new ideas which Okada proposes in response. The ease with which Japan's current situation is depicted explains his success with critics and public. His most recent creation, "Freetime" (2008) comes to the CENTQUATRE as part of the 2008 Paris Autumn Festival.
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