Donkey Skin

Character inspiration

Chiyo is a very broken character. As the wound of her mother’s death is still very fresh, her father turns to her and, in a way, betrays her trust and threatens her safe haven by asking her to marry him. At his request, she first tries to escape this reality by asking him to give her impossible gifts but as she sees he won’t back down, she has no choice but to flee and hide under her donkey skin. In this play, Chiyo also plays the typical kabuki character of the unconventional beauty. Hence her very childish appearance instead of the typical womanly Yamato Nadeshiko.