Earlier at the start of 2025, I fulfilled a lifelong goal of mine, and had my New York City off-broadway theatre debut at The Public Theatre playing Shinta in Lisa Sanaye Dring’s play, Sumo.
I originated this role in the world premiere production a couple years ago at The LaJolla Playhouse in San Diego and was absolutely overjoyed to step back into the role of Shinta for east coast/NYC audiences.
We opened at the beginning of March 2025 at the Anspacher Theatre at The Public and had our run extended until April, closing with a completely sold out week of final shows.
The production also had some great press during its run, like being named New York’s Hottest New Play by The Daily Beast, as well as an incredible Photo Shoot/Feature Article from Playbill. In addition to that, the show was featured in a multimedia special segment from The New York Times featuring behind the scenes photos and video of the process.
Now that the clay from the NYC Dohyo (the ring in which Sumo matches occur) has settled, the production is looking into possibilities for a national tour… so who knows? Sumo may be coming to stage near you sometime in the future! I am hopeful that our run at The Public isn’t our last, but I am so grateful to have been a part of the journey so far.
MASAKATSU AGATSU! (True Victory is Victory Over Myself)
