It has been announced that the play "Don't Look for Me," which was performed in October this year and starred actors Ryo Katsuji, Yuumi Kawai, and Kyoko Koizumi, will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW in February 2026. The play was written and directed by Ryo Iwamatsu, who is also a playwright, director, and actor, and Iwamatsu also appeared in the play.
Inspired by Steven Millhauser's short story "The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman," Iwamatsu takes a completely different approach to this mysterious suspense drama. One day, a young girl suddenly disappears. A man returns to his hometown and reunites with her. Is she really the same girl from that time? Or is she just an illusion, a manifestation of the feelings of atonement he continues to harbor? Where will the man's attempt to unravel the deepening mystery lead him?
Katsuji plays a young man who reunites with a girl who disappeared in high school, Kawai plays the missing girl, and Koizumi plays the young man's high school teacher. This is Katsuji's first appearance in an Iwamatsu production in four years, Koizumi's first in nine years, and Kawai's first. In addition to Iwamatsu, Tomiyama Eriko, Shin, and Niina Motohiro also appear in the film.
The play, which took place at the Honda Theater (Setagaya Ward, Tokyo) on October 25th, will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW.
◇Story
Akio Koga (Katsuji) returns to his hometown to announce his engagement and feels nostalgic for the town. At the same time, he recalls Akira Misawa (Kawai), who disappeared in high school. Akira was a young girl who always seemed to be alone in the corner of the classroom, and Akio is obsessed with the idea that he may have been responsible for her disappearance. He reunites with his high school teacher, Yuiko Oshiro (Koizumi Kyoko), who has now become a writer and wrote the novel "Deserted Island" based on Akio and Akira.
