“King Lear” by SCOT to Be Staged in Indonesia: A Decade of Indonesia–Japan Performing Arts Exchange Reaches a New Milestone

In September 2026, the Japan Foundation (JF) will present King Lear by Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT), the company led by director SUZUKI Tadashi, in Indonesia as part of the “Partnership to Co-create a Future with the Next Generation: WA Project 2.0.”
The production is an international co-production with Indonesian actors in principal roles, and the performance will be accompanied by workshops for the next generation of local artists. Together, these activities aim to deepen mutual cultural understanding between Indonesia and Japan and to develop the next generation of talent who will lead exchanges between the two countries.
The project has come about as the fruit of many years of exchange and collaboration between SCOT, which JF has supported since the days of its Asia Center, and the Indonesian cultural organization Bumi Purnati Indonesia.

With JF’s support, SCOT and Bumi Purnati spent three years from 2015 creating Dionysus, an Indonesia–Japan co-production that premiered in both countries in 2018.
It has since been performed on international stages, including the Singapore International Festival of Arts and the Theatre Olympics. Thirteen of the fifteen performers in Dionysus were Indonesian actors, and a second co-production, Electra, was created in 2021. Several of the leading roles in both Dionysus and Electra were played by Indonesian actors, each performing in the language of their home region and drawing on its cultural background, an approach that won wide praise as a new model for international co-production.
Since 2015, Indonesian actors selected by Restu I. Kusumaningrum, artistic director and producer of Bumi Purnati, have regularly participated in the SCOT Summer Season and in training in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training in Toga, creating work alongside Japanese actors season after season. The 2023 staging of Dionysus in Jakarta drew a strong response, with more than 99% of audience members reporting satisfaction. Building on that success, Kusumaningrum proposed a new international co-production, which has resulted in the present production of King Lear.

King Lear, which SCOT premiered in 1984, is one of the company’s signature works and has been performed repeatedly in Japan and abroad, including at the Theatre Olympics. In this production, the title role goes to Indonesian actor Jamaluddin Latif, who has continued to train in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training. He was chosen for the role as an actor representing a new generation, following the passing of the German actor Götz Argus, who had played it in SCOT’s King Lear for many years. This international production co-starring not only actors from Indonesia and Japan but also American, Russian, Italian, Korean, Chilean and Chinese actors who have mastered the Suzuki Method will breathe fresh life into Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
Through the performances and the workshops, JF aims to introduce audiences and performing arts professionals in Indonesia to the fruits of many years of international co-production by Indonesian and Japanese artists, and to contribute to the further development of performing arts exchange between ASEAN and Japan.

2026 Hosted Performance (Indonesia) of SCOT’s King Lear

Date and time	Wednesday, September 16 and Thursday, September 17, 2026 (local time)
Venue	Jakarta Art Building (GEDUNG KESENIAN JAKARTA)

Workshop

Date and time	Thursday, September 17, 2026 (local time)
Venue	Details to be announced at a later date

Jakarta production presented by: The Japan Foundation and Bumi Purnati Indonesia
Co-produced by: Suzuki Company of Toga and Bumi Purnati Indonesia

Profile

SUZUKI Tadashi

Restu I. Kusumaningrum