Ako (actress)

Ako, or Ako Dachs, is a Japanese actress and founding Artistic Director of Amaterasu Za theatre company.

Ako
Ako in 2019
Born
Atsuko Taneya

Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese-USA
Other namesAko Dachs
Occupation(s)Actress, Producer, Director, Choreographer, Playwright
Years active1960-
SpouseJoshua Dachs
AwardsLucil Lortel Leading Actress in Play nomination, The best student Award and The excellent accomplishment award at Takarazuka Music School.

Early life and education

Ako was a child actress in Japan and she came to the United States to study at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.[1]

Ako worked the Takarazuka Revue Company, all-female theater company in Japan.[2]

Acting career

Stage

Ako starred Off-Broadway in God Said This by Leah Nanako Winkler produced by Primary Stages at Cherry Lane Theatre and at Humana Festival. [3] She received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. Also, Kentucky by Leah Nanako Winkler by Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Ako performed in repertory at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in their 2010 and 2011 seasons.[4] Notably, in Julius Caesar (play), Ako played Caius Ligarius as well as Soothsayer, speaking the nightmare scene in Japanese, from a 19th century translation.[5] She played the Lady Macbeth character in Ping Chong's Throne of Blood, a stage adaptation of Kurosawa’s film of the same name. She reprised the role later that year at Brooklyn Academy of Music and was lauded for moving "with a quiet grace, and her frequent use of stillness is equally potent."[6]

Ako performed in the world premiere of Tamar of the River with Prospect Theater.[7] She has worked with Papermill Play House in their  production of Sayonara: The Musical, a stage version of the James A. Michener novel, Sayonara (1954) and Mikado Inc.

In 2020, Ako performed in Suicide Forest with Ma-Yi Theater Company.[8] Play Anfisa in Moscow x6, by Williams Town Festival in 2018 and in2019 by MCC. In 2004, she performed as Chin/Suzuki in M. Butterfly at Arena Stage.[9] She was in Pan Asian Repertory Theatre  2008 production of Shogun Macbeth, Tea House of the August Moon, and Sayonara: The Musical,[10][11] She played Atsuko for Velina Hasu Huston’s TEA at ATC at Seattle, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and PanAsian Rep.

She was in Molière's Dom Juan at Fisher Center at Bard 2022.[12]

Film and television

Ako will be seen in SHOGUN (2023) with Hiroyuki Sanada by FX/Hulu.

Film credits include: These Birds Don’t Fly South in the Winter (2019), I Origins (2014), Twelve (2010), No Reservations (2007), Shadowplay (short) (2002), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Too Tired to Die (1998), Daitoryo No Christmas Tree (1996), Prisoners in Time (1995), and Sleepwalk (1986).

Ako also appeared on an episode of 30 Rock in Season 3 (2008) and Mercy (TV series) (2010).

Directing, translation, and choreography

Ako adapted and translated three plays by Chikamatsu Monzaemon[13] 'Courie of Love' and co-directed a staged reading, and she directed Yukio Mishima's Modern Noh Play 'Hanjo' and 'Aoi no Ue' in 2019.[14]

Ako choreographed for productions of Sayonara: The Musical at Paper Mill Playhouse and Pan Asian Rep. She also choreographed for Shogun Macbeth and The Teahouse of the August Moon (play) at Pan Asian Rep.

Awards
  • 2019: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play - nominated[15]

References
  1. "New York Shakespeare Live Interview Series: Ako Dachs of the Japanese-American Theater Company, Amaterasu Za".
  2. "Sayonara Interview with Ako Dachs". YouTube. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. Levitt, Hayley. "God Said This Confronts Mortality and a Shrouded Family Legacy". TheaterMania. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. "Ako". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. "0:03 / 1:00:09 Shakespeare Hour LIVE! Episode 21: Shakespeare & Japan". Shakespeare Theatre Company. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. Bacalzo, Dan. "Throne of Blood". TheaterMania. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  7. Gioia, Michael. "World Premiere of Tamar of the River, Starring Rocky's Margo Seibert, Opens Oct. 2". Playbill. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  8. "Suicide Forest". Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  9. Marks, Peter. "At Arena Stage, a 'Butterfly' With Wings". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  10. "Ako Dachs: from Takarazuka to New York City". Asian Culture Goes Pop. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  11. Leiter, Samuel L. "Review: Pan Asian Rep's 'Sayonara'". The Broadway Blog.
  12. "Moliére's Dom Juan". Fisher Center. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  13. Eyring, Teresa. "Japanese Theatre's U.S. Expansion Teams". American Theatre. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  14. "Round 6 Cycle C Recipients". Theatre Communications Group. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  15. "2019 Nominees". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  • Ako-actress (official website)
  • Amaterasu Za (official website)
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