The play is an existential murder mystery set on the outskirts of Kyoto during the twelfth century, a time when earthquakes and fires set the capital into a steep decline. Rashomon, formally a majestic gate to the city, has fallen into ruins and become shelter. One evening, a colorful band of unsavory characters, including a bandit, a samurai, and a wife, has gathered beneath the gate to wait out a rainstorm and begin taking about an unusual criminal trial. A bandit is accused of having murdered a samurai who was passing through a bamboo grove with his wife. Testimony is heard from the bandit, the samurai’s wife and, through a medium, the samurai himself. Because each story is so detailed and credible that it is impossible to tell which one is true, the play questions the very nature of truth and reality
Role Played: The Servant
Directed by Kathy Welch
Produced by the Carleton College Players
Perfromed May 5TH, 6TH,7TH, 8TH, 12TH, 13TH, 14TH and 15TH, 2016