Aya Ogawa is a Tokyo-born, Brooklyn-based playwright, director, performer, and translator whose work reflects an international viewpoint, centers women/non-binary perspectives and utilizes the stage as a space for exploring cultural identity and other facets of the immigrant experience. Cumulatively, all aspects of their artistic practice synthesize their work as an artistic and cultural ambassador, building bridges across cultures to create meaningful exchange amongst artists, theaters, and audiences both in the U.S. and in Asia.
They have written and directed many plays including A Girl of 16, oph3lia (HERE), Journey to the Ocean (Foundry Theatre), and Ludic Proxy (The Play Company). Most recently they wrote, directed, and performed in The Nosebleed (Japan Society with The Chocolate Factory Theater, 2021; Lincoln Center Theater, 2022; Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 2023). Aya was awarded an Obie Award for the creation, writing, and direction of The Nosebleed, whose cast was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding ensemble. They are currently developing Meat Suit: the shitshow that is motherhood and an adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis as a solo performance in collaboration with Saori Tsukada with new music by Philip Glass.
As a director, they directed Haruna Lee’s Obie Award-winning Suicide Forest (The Bushwick Starr & Ma-Yi Theater Company) and Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott’s 9000 Paper Balloons (HERE & Japan Society).
They have translated numerous Japanese plays into English including work by Toshiki Okada, Satoko Ichihara, and Yudai Kamisato; many of these translations have been published and produced in the U.S. and U.K.
They are currently a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a Usual Suspect at NYTW, recent member of the Devised Theater Working Group at the Public Theater and Artist-in-Residence at BAX. They were the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants for Artists, President’s Award in Performing Arts from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, a finalist for the SDCF’S 2021 inaugural Barbara Whitman Award, and finalist for the 2022 Alan Schneider Director Award. ayaogawa.com
Instagram @ayagwa