NET CAFE REFUGEE
17th, 18th & 24th August 2025
"I long for solitude, yet I fear its silence."
NET CAFE REFUGEE premiered at Camden People’s Theatre in August 2025.
In a dimly lit Tokyo internet café, tucked among the city’s neon lights, people come not just to browse or read comics, but to sleep, shower, and survive. Some have nowhere else to go. Others stay long-term without a fixed address. Some girls trade their bodies for fleeting affection.
But when a YouTuber from England steps into this fragile world, the silence cracks—
Set in a space that echoes modern solitude, this work unveils the quiet, tangled lives at the edges of society.
Creatives
Director & Movement Director & Dramaturg: Ami Nagano
Playwright & Executive Producer: Yuya Sato
Producer & Associate Director: Hana Tamaru
Assistant Director: Shyann Ong
Choreographer: Ching Chen
Co-producer: Qi Wang
Set Designer: Mika Shirahama
Sound Designer & Composer: Lian Dyogi
Vocal Coach: Zoe Zimin Ho
Cast
Yuya Sato
Mia Sumida
Nobuo Otsuka
Jack Bolton
Review
★★★★★ - The Upcoming
"What’s so compelling about the script is how, in a short space of time, Sato touches on multiple talking points with great nuance."
“Net Café Refugee will leave an overwhelming desire for more. Its simplistic presentation adds to the overall charm, but what will hook people is its excellent examination of its themes.”
Review
★★★ - Sound Behind Curtain
“Net Café Refugee brings our attention to people who seek shelter not only from the rain but from society itself.”
"Ami Nagano’s direction and movement work allow the story to breathe."
“Ultimately, it leaves us with a quiet meditation on loneliness, fragile connections, and the unspoken boundaries that shape urban existence.”
