Tokyo International Players, also known as TIP, is the oldest, largest English-language theatre group in Japan and is among the oldest in Asia. TIP productions range from classics to musicals to contemporary and original pieces, in venues including Theater Sun-mall Shinjuku, Ebisu Echo Theater, Nakano Pocket Square, and Our Space in Hatagaya.
History
February 10, 1896 marked the first general meeting of the Tokyo Dramatic and Musical Association—known today as Tokyo International Players. The group was formed at the original Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. Prominent among the roughly hundred people in attendance were the Chief of Mission of Belgium, Baron Albert D'Anethan, and his wife, the Baroness, who was one of the committee of nine Japanese and European men and women voted into office. The first committee meeting was held the following week at the Belgian Legation.
A Lesson in Love by Charles Smith Cheltnam was TIP's first production, with support from the Imperial House of Japan. Opening night was November 6, 1896, the theater was a university hall, and audience members arrived by rickshaw.
The family of Academy Award-winning actress sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine, (both born in Tokyo), were active in TIP. Their mother, Lilian Augusta Ruse (Lillian Fontaine), appeared in several productions, including the Arabian-Nights-themed drama Kismet in 1917.
In the period leading up to the Pacific War, Japanese authorities insisted on inspecting detailed translations of every play. By 1940, TIP was declared an espionage center and forced to disband. War-time bombings destroyed TIP records.
TIP was reorganized after the war when the Occupation forces made theaters available. "Procurement demands" ensured facilities for set construction and professional painting. In April 1949, the curtain rose on two one-act plays, Miss Fingernail by Beryl Kent and Hecuba by Euripides. Social traditions resumed, and opening nights, certainly until the early 1960s, were black-tie occasions.
Today, TIP generally presents four mainstage shows per season. In June 2009, TIP launched its "Second Stage" series with Honiefaith by Monty DiPietro. Second Stage features smaller-scale, black box-style productions. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, TIP shifted its focus to online programming, which included workshops and training opportunities for actors along with a festival of short plays.
Theater facilities The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, one of the few buildings in Tokyo to withstand the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, had an intimate theater which hosted the club until the early 1960s. Most TIP performances from 1974 to 2007 were staged in the Grand Ballroom of the Tokyo American Club.
Currently, TIP uses several professional theater spaces in the Tokyo metropolitan area including Theater Sun-mall in Shinjuku, Ebisu Echo Theater, Pocket Square in Nakano, and Our Space in Hatagaya. Rehearsals are held at various venues around Tokyo.
Production history
Nov 1896: A Lesson in Love by Charles Smith Cheltnam Bombings during World War II destroyed TIP's pre-war records.
Apr 1949: Miss Fingernail by Beryl Kent, directed by George Mackie; Hecuba by Euripides, directed by Burton Crane May 1949: Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams Oct 1949: The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux, directed by Norman Earl Thomson 1951: The Silver Whistle by Robert E. MacEnroe 1952: Hay Fever by Noël Coward 1954: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare 1955: The White Sheep of the Family by L. duGarde Peach and Ian Hay, Accent on Youth by Samson Raphaelson, Sabrina Fair by Samuel A. Taylor, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 1956: The Caine County Court-Martial by Herman Wouk, Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, The Women by Clare Boothe Luce, Amphitryon 38 by Jean Giraudoux Oct 1956: The Happy Time by Samuel A. Taylor Feb 1957: The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett Apr 1957: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, directed by Helen McAlpine May 1957: Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Oct 1957: Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin Feb 1958: The Love of Four Colonels by Peter Ustinov, directed by Donald Warren-Knott May 1958: The Tiger at the Gate by Jean Giraudoux Oct 1958: The Waltz of the Toreadors by Jean Anouilh, directed by George Furness Dec 1958: Our Town by Thornton Wilder Mar 1959: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie May 1959: The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge Oct 1959: The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry Dec 1959: The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash Feb 1960: Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie May 1960: Breath of Spring by Peter Coke Oct 1960: The Seven Year Itch by George Axelrod Dec 1960: The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold, directed by Val Stavridi Feb 1961: A Penny for a Song by John Whiting, directed by Brian Moore and Stuart Beaty May 1961: The Marriage-Go-Round by Leslie Stevens Oct 1961: Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal Dec 1961: The Andersonville Trial by Saul Levitt Mar 1962: Macbeth by William Shakespeare, directed by Nicholas Spreckley May 1962: Laura by George Skiar and Vera Caspary Oct 1962: The Diary of a Scoundrel by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Peter Mann Dec 1962: Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn, directed by Ray Purl Mar 1963: Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Ken Macdonald May 1963: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare, directed by John Mitchell Nov 1963: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ray Purl Dec 1963: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, directed by Theo de Haan Mar 1964: Send Me No Flowers by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore, directed by George Furness May 1964; The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan, directed by Peter Dupere; Harlequinade by Terence Rattigan, directed by Charles Thompson Nov 1964: Mary, Mary by Jean Kerr, directed by George Furness Mar 1965: Bonaventure by Charlotte Hastings, directed by Peter Dupere Jun 1965: I Am A Camera by John Van Druten, directed by James Ranger Oct 1965: Lot's Wife, directed by Peter Mann Dec 1965: Three Men on a Horse by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott, directed by Ray Purl Mar 1966: Home and Beauty by W. Somerset Maugham, directed by James Ranger Jun 1966: Rashomon by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin, directed by Susan Austin & Nancy Etani Nov 1966: A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, directed by John Wetstine Dec 1966: Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, directed by Handel Evans and James Ranger Mar 1967: The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, directed by Richard Via Jun 1967: The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas-Home, directed by James Ranger and Handel Evans Sep 1967: scenes from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare and Romanoff and Juliet by Peter Ustinov (reading) Oct 1967: Portrait of Murder by Robert Bloomfield, directed by Peter Dupere Dec 1967: The Odd Couple by Neil Simon, directed by Richard Via & George Furness Jan 1968: The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry, directed by Peter Mann (reading) Feb 1968: The Odd Couple roadshow production to Nagoya & Kobe Mar 1968: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, directed by Peter Mann May 1968: The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, directed by Ray Purl Sep 1968: The Love of Four Colonels by Peter Ustinov (reading) Oct 1968: You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running by Robert Woodruff Anderson, directed by Ken Macdonald Dec 1968: See How They Run by Philip King, directed by Handel Evans & Peter Dupere Feb 1969: The Long Sunset by R. C. Sherriff, directed by Adrian Thorpe Mar 1969: The Relapse by John Vanbrugh, directed by Verner Bickley May 1969: Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon, directed by George Furness & Bob Austin Oct 1969: The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley, directed by Ken Macdonald & Pat Kelly Dec 1969: The Private Ear + White Lies + The Public Eye by Peter Shaffer, directed by Adrian Thorpe Feb 1970: Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward directed by Nancy Rosenblum (reading) Mar 1970: Everything in the Garden by Edward Albee, directed by Pat Kelly May 1970: Little Murders by Jules Feiffer, directed by Ray & Marshie Purl Sep 1970: People by Jules Feiffer (reading) Oct 1970: Plaza Suite by Neil Simon, directed by Nancy Rosenblum & Bing Thompson Nov 1970: Marriage à la mode by John Dryden (reading) Dec 1970: The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard, directed by George Furness & Arthur Milne + Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, directed by George Furness & Marshie Purl Feb 1971: Madly in Love by Paul Abelman + scenes from Lovers and Other Strangers by Renée Taylor & Joseph Bologna, directed by Nancy Rosenblum & Pat Kelly (reading) Mar 1971: After the Rain by John Bowen, directed by William Hall Jun 1971: Lovers and Other Strangers by Renée Taylor & Joseph Bologna, directed by Bing Thompson Oct 1971: Sheep on the Runway by Art Buchwald, directed by George Furness & Bruce Kennedy Nov 1971: Anastasia, directed by Peter Benford & Fern Rafelson (reading) Dec 1971: An Evening with Thurber & Feiffer by James Thurber & Jules Feiffer, dir by William Laws Mar 1972: Play It Again, Sam by Woody Allen, directed by Fern Rafelson May 1972: The Queen & the Rebels by Ugo Betti (reading) Jun 1972: Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Bob Austin Oct 1972: The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, directed by George Furness & Arthur Milne Nov 1972: The Complaisant Lover by Graham Greene (reading) Dec 1972: Bell, Book and Candle by John Van Druten, directed by Ray & Marshie Purl Mar 1973: I Spy by John Mortimer, directed by Colin Willis (reading) May 1973: The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson, directed by Shiro Kijima (in Japanese, sponsored by TIP) Oct 1973: There's a Girl in My Soup by Terence Frisby, directed by Colin Willis (reading) Nov 1973: The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, directed by Ray & Marshie Purl Dec 1973: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, directed by Ray & Marshie Purl (reading) Jan 1974: Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, directed by Peter Mann (workshop) Feb 1974: Animal Farm by George Orwell, directed by William Laws & Candace Kennedy Laws (reading) Mar 1974: How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Ray Purl Apr 1974: Who'll Save the Ploughboy (reading) May 1974: Green Julia (reading) Oct 1974: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, directed by Ken Macdonald (reading) Nov 1974: Twigs by George Furth, directed by Ray Purl Jan 1975: Home by David Storey, directed by Ken Macdonald & George Furness (reading) Feb 1975: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, directed by Peter Mann (reading) Mar 1975: Mystery Play by Jean Claude Van Itallie, directed by Ray Purl (workshop) Apr 1975: High Spirits book, lyrics, & music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, directed by Bob Austin May 1975: The American Dream by Edward Albee, directed by Ray Purl (workshop) Oct 1975: Master Dudley & Red for Danger by Philip Johnson + He's Dead All Right by John Gainfort, directed by Colin Williams (reading) Nov 1975: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, directed by Ray & Marshie Purl Dec 1975: The Amorous Pawn by Michael Lombardi, directed by Michael Lombardi (reading) Jan 1976: Father Returns by Kikuchi Kan. English version directed by Colin Williams, Japanese version directed by Rocky Ishii (workshop) Jan 1976: Kennedy's Children by Robert Patrick, directed by Ken Macdonald (reading) Feb 1976: Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, directed by Rita Oldham Mar 1976: The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, directed by Ray Purl May 1976: It's a Lemon, written & compiled by Bob Austin & Colin Williams, directed by Bob Austin Oct 1976: Otherwise Engaged by Simon Gray, directed by Ken Macdonald (reading) Nov 1976: Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Ray Purl