Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-Garde Theatre of Terayama Shuji and Postwar Japan

Introduction (excerpt):

Terayama Shuji (1935 — 1983) would have been an alchemist if he could. He was constantly metamorphosing, transforming, & reinventing himself. His multifarious identities included internationally renowned poet, playwright, director, filmmaker, photographer, novelist, lyricist, cultural critic, theatrical theorist, advocate for the rights of youth, & spokesman for lonely teenage girls —as well as gambler, peeping Tom, & anarchic destroyer of tradition. He spent his 47 years in search of a personal philosopher's stone, an elusive element that would permit him to complete his life's project. That project was transforming the dross of mere existence into golden art, leaden reality into glittering fiction. Yet whenever he would begin to glimpse results— whenever the gurgling alchemist's brew began to precipitate into golden nuggets— something catastrophic would occur. The hell that was his chaotic, everyday life would reveal another, hidden hell; the beauty of carefully constructed fiction would transform into horrible reality; each new hell would metamorphose into another—& so on into infinity. To Terayama, reality was a lie. Stability, solidity, & identity remained elusive goals.