“Intent to Kill (Strip Show)”, written by Juro Miyoshi, was first published in 1950.
The setting is a nightclub stage. The sole character is Misa Midorikawa, a striptease dancer.
She tells the story of her life: born in a small castle town in the south, she experiences the patriotic movement, war, and Japan’s defeat before eventually becoming a dancer in Tokyo.
In powerful language, Juro Miyoshi depicts Japan’s rapid descent into war. The story moves forward with relentless momentum, leaving little room to stop and ask, “How could this have happened?”
Yet this play is not a story about “war.” It is a story about “anger.” Embedded within it are the contradictions, suffering, and sense of powerlessness that each person carries as they struggle to face the realities of everyday life. These are feelings that resonate deeply with those of us living in the present.
Rather than simply recreating the world of the play onstage, Rusanchika revisits this story of the past from its own perspective. By bringing this play, written in 1950, to life through the bodies and voices of performers living today, Rusanchika creates a space in which its words can be shared with audiences in the present.
Following its premiere in 2023 and subsequent performances in Tokyo and Kyoto, this signature work from RESSENCHKA will be performed in Toyooka for the first time.