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Vengeance Can Wait

Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy  /  2w, 2m

Andy Bragen, Yukiko Motoya, Kyoko Yoshida

Yukiko Motoya
Translation by Kyoko Yoshida and Andy Bragen

Written by Yukiko Motoya, one of Japan's leading contemporary female playwrights, Vengeance Can Wait is a kinky comedy about love, submission, and sweet revenge.

Vengeance Can Wait

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Vengeance Can Wait navigates Japanese sub-culture as it charts a different kind of love story. A couple has the ideal domestic relationship: he spends his days planning the perfect revenge, while she awaits her perfect punishment. Dark, twisted, and touching, the couple comes to understand the "kinks" in their relationship - and embrace them.
History
Vengeance Can Wait was originally performed in Japaese by the Yukiko Motoya Theatre Company at the Shinjuku Theater Morliere in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of the play was developed at the 2006 PlayLabs Festival at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of the U.S.-Japan Contemproary Plays and Playwrights Exchange Project. This translation was further developed in 2007 in collaboration with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. It received a premier production at Performance Space 122 in assocation with the Queens Theatre in April of 2008, directed by Jose Zayas.
Keywords
Performing Groups
HIDENORI YAMANE - a child pretending to be an adult
NANASE OGAWA - above all, can't bear being disliked
TAKAO BANJO and AZUSA KANAMORI - a "normal" couple

As a Japanese play, it was written for Japanese performers. While an Asian-American cast may be preferable, it is by no means required. The play will also work well with color-blind casting. It is something we encourage.

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No intermission, Physical Comedy
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Intense Adult Themes

Media

REVIEWS

"Motoya, a young Japanese writer influenced by anime and manga, has fashioned an edgy little farce." – The Village Voice Theater, Read More

"Vengeance Can Wait is energetic and engaging.  And it delivers — as promised — moments of quirky humor, and tongue-in-cheek mockery of “modern” sexual and ethical posturing." - Theatre Ghost, Read More

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Andy Bragen

Andy Bragen

Andy Bragen, a lifelong resident of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, was a 2009-2010 Workspace Resident with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.  Other honors include the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission, a Tennessee Williams Fellowship from Sewanee, and a Jerome Fellowship.  ...

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Yukiko Motoya

Yukiko Motoya
Yukiko Motoya (1979–) belonged to the drama club in high school and left her home in Ishikawa Prefecture to attend drama college in Tokyo. She started writing plays and fiction at the age of 19 while supporting herself with odd jobs. In 2000 she set up the Motoya Yukiko Thea ...
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Kyoko Yoshida

Kyoko Yoshida
Kyoko Yoshida has served the performing arts field for over 30 years as a presenter, producer and consultant, with a focus on artistic and cultural exchange between the U.S. and Japan. Yoshida is the founder and director of the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network (CTN), which w ...
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