The FACE OF JIZO
THE OLD FITZROY THEATRE · OCTober-NOVember 2023
Presented by OMUSUBI Productions in association with Red Line
SET Designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller
Sydney Theatre Awards 2023 Nominations for Best: Independent Production, Direction, Lead Actor, Sound Design and Composition
Time Out ★★★★★
SMH ★★★★
The Face of Jizo centres on a father and daughter in the aftermath of war. Tender, beautiful and seasoned with moments of familial humour, this acclaimed Japanese play made its Australian premiere at the Old Fitz Theatre. Three years after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, Mitsue, a young woman who works in the local library, arrives home to find her father Takezo there. Despite years of being apart, the pair share memories of the past, cook small fry miso and argue over the intentions of a young man who buys Mitsue a sweet bean jam bun and collects objects left over from the bombing.
This is a tale of courage, first love, spirited fathers, and learning to embrace the ghosts of the past.
“In the small shack she calls home (beautifully laid out by designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller) is her father Takezo, comfortably installed in a cupboard. Soon it’s clear that Takezo (Shingo Usami) is a figment of Mizue’s fervent imagination.”
— Frank Hatherley - Stage Whispers
“Generously, we are given time and space to enjoy the affections between father and daughter, and their equivalent stubbornness. Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s beautiful set evokes a simple, cosy and tastefully arranged Japanese home, suffused with Matt Cox’s soft golden light.”
— Kate Prendergast - Time Out ★★★★★
“Set design by Tobhiyah Stone Feller conveys a sense of accuracy, for the time and place being depicted.”
— Suzy Wrong - Suzy Goes See
Credits & Acknowledgements
Set Designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller
Directors Shingo Usami and David Lynch
Cast Shingo Usami and Mayu Iwasaki
Composer Me-Lee Hay
Sound Designer Zachary Saric
Lighting Design Matt Cox
Lighting Assistants Veronique Bennett and Tim Hope Set Construction Pier Productions, Ross Feller and production team
Stage Manager Mia Kanzaki
Produced by OMUSUBI Productions in association with Red Line Productions
OMUSUBI Producers Jade Fuda and Mayu Iwasaki
Writer Hisashi Inoue
Translator Roger Pulvers
Photographer Philip Erbacher