Three childhood friends now find themselves in their 50s. When one of them stops answering the phone after a break-up with her boyfriend, the others decide to pay a visit to her apartment. Upon their arrival, they discover the place is full to the brim with clutter, and in a comically escalating (yet ultimately fruitless) attempt to create order from this chaos, they lay bare the messes that have been building up within their own lives…
Featuring a new translation, this rehearsed reading of leading female playwright NAGAI Ai‘s ambitious best-seller Women Who Want To Tidy Up marks the first ever British takes on this laugh-out-loud script, exploring relationships, hoarding, aging, menopause, and many more issues most women will relate to at some point in their lives.
Featuring a new translation by Meg Kubota, this rehearsed reading is directed by Ria Parry and will also be followed by a post-performance talk with NAGAI Ai herself.
Age guidance: 12+
About the Playwright
NAGAI graduated in drama from Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music. Nitosha, the theatre company she established in 1981, is now a production company that continues to stage works that she writes and directs. NAGAI also writes for many other organisations, such as the New National Theatre, Tokyo, and is one of Japan’s most acclaimed playwrights. She is well known for her works focusing on the reality of the times through depictions of familiar places, subconscious problems, and issues such as language, gender, family, and community. She won the 44th KISHIDA Kunio Drama Award for Ani kaeru (Brother Returns), the 1st TSURUYA Nanboku Drama Award for Ranuki no satsui (The Murderous Malice of Language), and the 52nd Yomiuri Prize for Literature for Hagi-ke no san shimai (The Three Hagi Sisters). Utawasetai otoko-tachi (Got to Make Them Sing) was unanimously acclaimed the best play of 2005, making a clean sweep of the major drama awards including the Asahi Performing Arts Awards. She was nominated for the Yomiuri Theatre Award for Best Direction many times, including for The Kuuki (On Air). NAGAI is also active abroad, with her plays read on stage in the UK, the United States, and South Korea. She is a former president of the Japan Playwrights Association.
The Company
Translation supervisor : Yuka Ando
Coordinator : Etsuko Shirasaka
