Sep 14, 2025
Caught an afternoon performance of Kinkakuji at Japan Society! Exquisitely staged play based on Yukio Mishima’s novel (previously adapted for the screen by both Kon Ichikawa and Paul Schrader). Production design is simultaneously minimalistic and breathtakingly elaborate. There are no traditional “sets”—just innumerable dangling threads that fragment the physical space in which the drama unravels, shifting hues (and occasionally vanishing entirely) with little more than subtle changes in lighting. The script is a single continuous monologue that unfolds over the course of 100 minutes—and actor Major Curda delivers every word flawlessly. A magnificent show; this is the kind of live theatre that I adore.
