Director: Terufumi Koshimitsu
Playwright: Kunio Shimizu
Institution: Toho Gakeun College of Drama and Music, Japan
Venue: Experimental Theatre
Time: 10:00, May 22, 2012
Event: The 2nd Asian Theatre Schools Festival
Director’s Notes
As tension builds between these four actresses, what is revealed is a shared love for the theatre and the works of Chekhov, Shakespeare, etc.
Kunio Shimizu's play is a unique combination of Japanese and Western theatre. The Dressing Room was first staged in 1977, and has been one of the most popular plays on the Japanese stage since then.
Synopsis
In a small theatre in Japan, a company is staging a performance of Chekhov's The Seagull.
Three actresses are preparing in one of the dressing rooms - Actress A and Actress B, both ghosts, are putting on their makeup preparing for their own roles on the stage, and Actress C, cast in the tragic lead role of Nina in the performance despite being nearly 40,is practicing her lines. Actress A and Actress B, both former understudies and prompters, still retain a lingering desire to play roles including Nina, and so does Actress D, a former prompter and mental patient, who enters and demands that the coveted role of Nina be returned to her.