While They Are Away and Other Plays and Essays

Two maids pass an afternoon in their employers’ absence, sharing tea, household secrets, and increasingly dangerous gossip. A greengrocer’s unexpected confession complicates their conversation in While They Are Away. Lamp-Lighting Time turns toward childhood fear as two brothers face a darkening garden and the imagined consequences of their mischief.

Around these plays, Kishida Kunio examines what literature contributes to theater, how audiences should judge performance, and why comedy deserves serious attention. His theatrical conversations move through acting, dramatic language, art theaters, and the difficulty of reading plays. Shorter pieces offer pointed judgments about criticism, modern life, and the pleasures of books.

A lively billiards poem records shots, wagers, sounds, and the rueful cost of obsession. A confectionery recollection and the satirical story Tamaki Anri’s Coffee connect taste with language, self-image, and literary ambition. These complete translations preserve all twelve supplied works, with concise notes on names, historical terms, uncertain readings, and the original texts’ physical arrangements.