The Dressing Room is playwright SHIMIZU Kunio’s masterpiece and among Japan’s most performed dramas. It quotes liberally from classic literary works, ranging from Chekhov (The Seagull, The Three Sisters) and Shakespeare (Macbeth) to MIYOSHI Juro (Kirare no Senta). It features an actress playing Nina in The Seagull and the ghosts of three past actresses who live in the dressing room during the show’s run. The quotations of famous lines are both a homage to past works and a test of the performers’ skills, a thrill for the audience and the actresses themselves. Through the portrayal of actresses deeply devoted to their craft, the author examines why we perform and why we live. This production was produced by unrato, a theater unit run by director OKOUCHI Naoko (a former assistant director to NINAGAWA Yukio) and producer TAKUBO Oko. One of the show’s highlights is the competition among actresses of different backgrounds.

SHIMIZU Kunio
Playwright, author, director. November 17, 1936 – April 15, 2015. Graduated from Waseda University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences. His maiden effort The Signatory, which he published as a student in 1958 (first production: 1960), won the Teatro Theatre Award and Waseda Theatre Award. After graduation, he joined Iwanami Film Productions, where he wrote film scripts for five years. He then became involved in theater and founded Sakura-sha with Ninagawa Yukio and others in 1972. His piece When We Go Down That Great Unfeeling River was given the prestigious Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1974. He founded the Mokutosha with his wife MATSUMOTO Noriko and others in 1976. Their first production, You Night of Youth that Raises My Hackles with Screams and Anger, received the Kinokuniya Drama Award. His many other awards include the Izumi Kyoka Award for My Spirit is the Sparkling Water (1980), the Yomiuri Theater Award for Elegy (1983), and the Kinokuniya Drama Award for Diary of a Brat and Waga Yume ni Mita Seishun no Tomo (1994). He was awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government in 2002.

2021
Akasaka RED/THEATER

Presented by: The Japan Foundation (JF) (https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/)
In cooperation with EPAD (https://epad.terrada.co.jp/)

＜Performance Credits＞
Performers: HOSAKA Chizu, OZORA Yuhi, KASAMATSU Haru, ISODA Mie
Written by: SHIMIZU Kunio
Directed by: OKOUCHI Naoko
Music by: MIEDA Shintaro
Set Design by: ISHIHARA.K
Lighting Design by: OSHIMA Masao
Sound Design by: HAYAKAWA Takeshi
Costume Design by: KOBAYASHI Miwa
Fight Choreographer: KURIHARA Naoki
Choreographer: FUJIMA Takamasa
Hair & Makeup: KOKUFUDA Kei
Associate Director: ISHIZUKA Kie
Stage Manager: SAITO Hideaki, ITO Haruki
Hip drum:TANAKA Denzaemon
Shoulder drum:TANAKA Genichiro
Video Documentation and Editing: SAIKOUDO Co.,Ltd.
Film Director: TAKAHAMA Ayako
Promotional Art by: YOSHIDA Denwa
WEB: KOBAYASHI Taxi
Associate Producer: HOKOKI Akihiro
Producer: TAKUBO Oko
Planning and Production: unrato, aeon Inc.
Organized by: aeon Inc.

＜Subtitling Credits＞
Chinese Translation (Simplified): Zhenzhen WU
Chinese Translation (Traditional): GuanJie LEE
English Translation: Gary PERLMAN
French Translation: Corinne ATLAN
Russian Translation: Inga IBRAKHIM
Spanish Translation: José Antonio AMBRIZ

＜Promotional Text＞
YONEYA Naoko