Half a Century of Japanese Theater X: 1990s, Part 4

The tenth and final volume in this series treats the major works of five playwrights from the 1990s. Iwasaki Masahiro’s A Country Far from Here is about an Aum Shinrikyo follower who had to come home and now has to deal with his concerned family. Nagatsuka Keishi’s Men at Work tells a dark, absurd story about a group of eccentrics committed to growing the bitterest apple possible. Hatasawa Seigo’s Forty Minutes from the Back focuses on two suicidal people who make emotional contact through a massage session. Tsutsumi Harue’s Destination Japan is based on the true story of a Japan-resident Korean pianist, Choi Soon’ae, who spent years fighting the Japanese legal system to retain her residency. Tsukuda Norihiko’s Shed Skin is a delightful piece about a senile father shedding his skin and growing younger and younger; his metamorphoses indirectly help his middle-aged son negotiate a mid-life crisis.

• Japan Playwrights Association, Editor