Elica’s First Ever Theatre Piece

It was the days at Royal Holloway College, University of London.

I was an MA student at Theatre Department.

For the final MA project, I decided to direct a play named The Directions To Servants, by Shuji Terayama. (I already made the English translation as my BA project at Keio University, Japan).

I have found photos.

Music, Set design, Make-up and costume design also by Elica Miwa.
Of course, I had a set realizer and make-up and costume maker.
(Music was performed and recorded by myself)
They were fabulous!
Look at these photos!

The actors are undergraduate students.
How talented!
Terayama’s avant-garde, experimental, and brutal play was all poetic, out of order, out of norm, and difficult to get hold of through line of story.

But they understood and made it sooooo strikingly beautiful.

The theme was “grotesque” “human masks”.
So the characters’ movements often went grotesque and monster-ish.

Each shot shows their powerful eyes and energetic finger-tips.

These beautiful girls never mind showing distorted faces and body movements.
What great real actors!

The white lines you see on the set are white elastic strings which were attached to the floor from the ceiling. The characters often played with them as doors, as a hiding place, as a resting place, as a jail, and also used to show their emotions.

The production received a standing ovation.

With it, I could receive MA degree.

I wonder how they are all doing.
Beautiful memories.