The play Woman Killer by Chiori Miyagawa draws inspiration from Japanese Bunraku plays and tells the story of a young man named Clay who falls into debt trying to support his expensive drug habit and girlfriend. Over the course of Halloween to New Year, Clay squeezes money from his family and friends, leading to increasing tensions. When his friend Anne refuses to give him more money, Clay kills her in a fit of desperation. The play uses poetic language to explore how desperation can cause evil acts and examines the complex relationship between good and evil.

1. Abby Cady
Play Coverage #9
12 April, 2015
Woman Killer
Chiori Miyagawa
CASTING REQUIREMENTS Total of 12 speaking characters. 8 men; two 20s, one
30s, one middle age, others no age specified. 4 women; one 17, one 20s, one 30s, one
middle age. No ethnicities specified. White Fox, Michael, and Joe may be doubled.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Set in present day, Brooklyn. Settings include
homes, offices, and city streets. Dream/dance interludes with separate aesthetic from other
scenes. A character is cut onstage with a knife and must bleed profusely. Music written for
songs in the play may be licensed.
SYNOPSIS The plot is inspired by the Japanese Bunraku play The Woman Killer
and The Hell of Oil by Chikamatsu. Clay, a young man living in Brooklyn, has gone into
debt trying to harness his escort girlfriend, Rebecca, with expensive gifts and drugs. He
squeezes money from his family across the time between Halloween and just after the
New Year. Clay’s friend Anne tries to counsel him towards a better life, which puts a
strain on her relationship with her husband, James. Clay’s stepfather, Henry, and mother,
Elizabeth, continue to give Clay money despite the protestations of Clay’s younger
brother, Timothy. Clay’s half-sister, Amy, fakes a demonic pregnancy in an attempt to
help Clay get the $17,000 he needs, but her ruse is revealed when White Fox, a priest,
comes to exorcise her. This discovery leads to a physical altercation among Clay and his
parents, and Clay is disowned. Mother and Father leave $7,000 for Clay with Anne, and
James sees a bad omen regarding Anne. Clay comes to claim the money, demands more
money from Anne, and kills her when she refuses.

2. Abby Cady
Play Coverage #9
12 April, 2015
DESCRIPTION AND RESPONSE The playwright’s intention seems to be to
show how desperation can be the cause of evil acts. Miyagawa masterfully adapts the
Bunraku plot to modern times. Poetic language and more formal dramatic conventions
amplify the tensions caused by Clay by ritualizing his transgressions and the responses to
them. The clear cycle of action and reaction sets up a conflict between Clay and everyone
else, but the inability of either side to let go of one another shows how complicated the
battle between good and evil really is. All of the characters think there is some way of
possession or containment of the others that will resolve all of their problems.
Moments when Japan and Brooklyn merge add a dimension of timelessness to the
immediacy of Clay’s violence and allow space for the characters’ and audiences’
contemplation on what drives one to hurt others. This meditation intensifies over the
play’s 24 scenes, and the final murder is an expectedly vicious release.
PLAY HISTORY AND AUTHOR INFO Woman Killer was produced by
Crossing Jamaica Avenue and HERE in 2001 at HERE. Miyagawa is a founding member
of Crossing Jamaica Avenue and teaches at Bard College. Her plays have been presented
in New York, Tokyo, and Dallas.
RECOMMENDATION Yes. The stylized language offers production challenges
and the themes of greed and harm are continually relevant.