[8] When it was staged in St. Louis, the cast included Faith Esham, John Brandstetter, Andrew Wentzel, and Mallory Walker.
[7] A New York Times review during its world premiere noted how the opera paid court to both European and Japanese cultures, travelling "wide artistic distances in its attempt to reconcile two very different ways of hearing and seeing".
[1] Shojo, who is also a master of jōruri music has a devoted young wife, Otane, whom she saved from a magistrate.
Shojo discovers that the young puppeteer is also in love with her when he traces the features of a bust that Yosuke carved for their new jōruri play.
Yosuke and Otane commit suicide as the parallels between real-life and the new play written by Shojo prove too painful for the pair.