Playwright/director/actor Takaha Aya has a reputation for strong plays with keen human insight. She created this work for her own theater company, inspired by the social situation of the pandemic.
The setting is Japan in the near future, where the economy has stalled, the gap between rich and poor has widened, and the average lifespan has fallen to 50 years. People seek stories that will embellish their deaths and give their deaths meaning, and “beautiful obituaries” consequently command top prices. One day, the vagrant Sosuke and his mute little sister Maru are visited by the famous biographical writer Miyoshi Toko at their home in the slums of Kabukicho. Sosuke’s talent in piecing together stories from fragments of discarded books and magazines has attracted Toko’s eye, and she has come to ask him to write the world’s most ridiculous obituary, offering him money and a position as her successor. Toko has her own hidden motives, while Sosuke gets caught up in the pretensions and work of a writer. This ambitious work aimed to make the theater experience barrier-free by using a sign language interpreter to play the role of Maru while interpreting the lines of others as well.

2021
Ekimae Theater

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

＜Performance Credits＞
Written and Directed by TAKAHA Aya
Performers : Machida Mizuki, KAKIMARU Michie, TAKAHA Aya, FUKUMOTO Shinichi（Rappa-ya）,TANAKA Yuka
Sign language interpreter : TANAKA Yuka
Sign language supervision : YONAIYAMA Yoko
Stage Manager : SAKURAI Kentaro
Lighting Design by KOBAYASHI Aiko
Sound Design by TANAKA Ryodai（PaddyField）
Costume Design by CHIBA Kanako
Video Documentation and Editing : MATSUZAWA Nobuhira（catalysm & Co.）, OOTAKE Shogo
Subtitles Programmer : TOKURA Yuka
Assistant Director : AIDA Takeshi
Publicity Design : HAO Mariko
Production Coordinators : HANDA Momoko, MURATA Shion
Organized by Takaha Gekidan

＜Subtitling Credits＞
Multilingual subtitling：
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Goverment of Japan through the Japan Arts Council

Chinese Translation (Simplified): Shu LIN
Chinese Translation (Traditional): SWSG
English Translation: YAMAGATA Mirei
French Translation: Eléonor Mahmoudian
Spanish Translation: Karla FUJI

＜Promotional Text＞
ONOUE Sora

End date of distribution: 25/1/2027