A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Enjoy (Ogawa)

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  4w, 6m

English translation by Aya Ogawa

The static lives of several self-obsessed GenX comic book store clerks are thrown out of balance by the presence of a younger female co-worker, who rightly makes them question the meaning of their lives in a shifting socio-economic landscape.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 6m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
From acclaimed Japanese director/playwright Toshiki Okada, Artistic Director of the internationally-lauded chelfitsch Theatre Company, comes a chronicle of post-college ennui and 21st Century relationships in Japan's Lost Generation. The static lives of several self-obsessed GenX comic book store clerks are thrown out of balance by the presence of a younger female co-worker, who rightly makes them question the meaning of their lives in a shifting socio-economic landscape. Written in the hyper-colloquial style Okada has become famous for, this play is presented for the first time in English in a translation by Japanese American playwright Aya Ogawa, and was met with massive critical praise upon its New York premiere.
History

Enjoy premiered in New York City at 59E59 Theatres under the direction of Dan Rothenberg in April 2010. 

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  • Time Period New Millennium/21st Century
  • Setting A staff room in a manga cafe
    A bedroom
    Inside Shinjuku Station

Media

REVIEWS

"The title “Enjoy,” like much of the dialogue, can be read several ways. There is the frozen-smiled cheer of customer service, the sarcastic sneer of the ironist and, when two lovers kiss at the end, the possibility of something genuine. I mean, like, really." The New York Times, Read More

"Anime meets anomie in this brilliantly written, staged, and performed ensemble piece, which reveals in hyper-real language and choreographic clarity the inner workings of Japan's 'lost generation.'" - Theatre is Easy, Read More

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Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

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Authors

Aya Ogawa

Aya Ogawa is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, translator and performer. As a playwright and director, her play Serendipity was the winner of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival and finalist at Humana Festival. Eating Dirt was produced at SoHo Rep, and she ...
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Toshiki Okada

Toshiki Okada was born in Yokohama in 1973 and formed the theater company 'chelfitsch' in 1997. Since then he has written and directed all of the company's productions, practicing a distinctive methodology for creating plays, and has come to be known for his use of hyper-coll ...
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