Naomi Iizuka is a Japanese-born American playwright who writes works with non-linear storylines and are influenced heavily by her multicultural background.Â
Iizuka was born in Tokyo at April 22, 1965. Her mother is American Latina and her father is Japanese. She grew up in Japan, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Washington, D.C. She attended Yale University and the University of California. She has taught playwrighting and dramatic arts at several universities.
Iizuka says the university is a particularly good pathway to develop her commissioned work because of the resources and diversity they can offer: "I believe universities are the great untapped resource in American theatre. In terms of material resources: performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, shops and state-of-the-art equipment. Also, in terms of human resources and the communities you find within universities. If we want to develop artist-driven work that's keyed into the artist's process, that's not a one-size-fits-all process, universities can be a big part in solving that puzzle."
Polaroid Stories (1997)
Polaroid Stories (1997) is a modern adaptation of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus. Iizuka collapses classical literature and contemporary everyday life by making Minneapolis street kids the main characters of the play instead of mythical gods. The drug dealers, prostitutes, and homeless tell their stories, some real and some complete lies, which together create some sort of truth about the desolate, urban landscape that they find refuge in.
Language of Angels (2000)
War of the Worlds (Written in collaboration with Anne Bogart) (2000)
Anon(ymous) (2006)
Good Kids (2014)
Good Kids is about a drunk high school girl who is raped by a group of football players after a high school party. The play focuses on the rumors and social aftermath. The natural question arises: who is to blame? "I think the question that the play asks is how can this happen?" Iizuka says. "If we take it as a starting point that college campuses are not filled with sociopathic predators: What is it that creates a situation where this happens?"