Harajuku Girls

Lighting Designer

Credits:

Directed by Jude Christian
Set and Costume by Cécile Trémolières
Sound Design by Helen Skiera
Fight Choreography by Haruka Kuroda

Presented by Nicholas Goh, Papergang Theatre and China Dolls Productions in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre.

24 February 2015 to 21 March 2015

Location: Finborough Theatre

New Writing by Francis Turnly

“I don’t know a girl who hasn’t been groped on a train. There’s always someone trying to cop a feel. Might as well get paid for it.”

On Jingu Bridge in Tokyo, teenage girls dress in cosplay outfits for fun, fashion, and the fantasy of being someone else, but for Mari, Keiko and Yumi, their schooldays are over...


In a race to escape from overbearing parents, stifling dead-end jobs and economic deprivation, they find their way to Kabukicho, a district of panty shops, love hotels and image clubs, where every aspect of the body and soul can be bought and sold. Only they can decide how far they're willing to go.

As the three young women grow up and apart, they tread a dangerously fine line between empowerment and victimhood as they struggle to pursue their dreams, despite the obstacles that society and tradition put in their way.


Jude Christian –the 2013 winner of the National Theatre Studio Bursary for Emerging Directors – directs the world premiere of this provocative new play by award-winning playwright Francis Turnly which takes us deep into the neon-lit streets and forbidden passageways of Tokyo.

A play about friendship, fantasy, and what it means to be free.