Haruna Kajino is the costume designer, translator and actor in the existentialist drama “La Route.”
The international student from Japan is performing her honors thesis with the production and design of Agota Kristol’s “La Route.”
Kajino is a senior theatre student at Sam Houston and translated the piece from Japanese to English. She first performed “La Route” in Japan where it was translated from French.
“I performed it when I was in high school. The acting style here is different; it’s more natural acting. The way the [SHSU] actors analyzed the play helped me understand and view the piece differently,” said Kajino.
Directing the performance is SHSU senior George Oliver. 16 other actors are also featured in the performance.
“George in my ex-roommate, and we are close. He helped so much when I first got here. I totally trust him with this performance,” said Kajino.
The absurdist piece is about a civil engineer who finds himself trapped in a world distinct and consigned to roads with no exits. People and things along the road expose internal parts, whose identity lies some where between animal and beast.
The only performance will be on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 8:00 p.m. in the University Theatre Center’s Showcase Theatre. Following the performance is a short discussion of the use of existentialism in Kristof’s piece by philosophy, psychology and theatre professors. Since the show is a classroom project, admission is free.
After Kajino graduates in December, she plans to find a theatre related job in the U.S.
She said, “I chose SHSU without knowing what kind of theatre department they had, but I know now that I made a wise choice.”