The Rehearsal Room
Kitamura often emphasizes the rehearsal room through her cold, bare and from a visual standpoint almost geometrical descriptions of the space: the walls with their sharp corners, the footsteps reverberating, the bright lights that expose rather than cover. The vacant chairs and shiny floor evoke a feeling of being looked at, as if there is no way to hide. Thus, this environment turns into a mental reflection — a venue where doubt and acting become indistinguishable. The lack of the room’s things dramatizes the conflict between the two sides of the argument showdown in the rehearsal - the struggle between the show and the reality, the appearance and the truth.
Mirrors
Mirrors come up frequently and are referred to as being clear, cold, and exact. At some instances they reveal too much detail and at others, they look distant or are not clear. These are the different ways the characters perceive themselves through the mirror - sometimes they have a strong faith in themselves, at other times they are full of doubt. The use of mirror images is a way of saying that the characters are continually observing themselves and questioning their true self.
The Voice
The narrator’s voice, as well as those of the people around her, is depicted through multiple layers of sound figures: too fast breaths, quite deep silences, sentences that shake or cry. Voice changes to a physical one — a thing which can be formed, controlled, or shown. The representation of sound unveils the characters’ trouble with their emotions and their ability to control them, thus, putting forward the idea that speaking is just another theatrical performance. The changes to the voice like a stop, an uncertainty, a switch in the tone which reveals the inner world of the characters, thus, without the words, the voice becomes both the means of getting closer and the walls of separating the characters even further.
Clothing and Fabric
Clothes are recounted with gentle and thoughtful sensory detail - the heaviness of the fabric, the freshness of the folds, the faint roughness of the seams. These tactile pictures reflect the narrator's struggle to build a calm and controlled façade from within a turmoil of doubt. Clothes turn into a kind of unspoken communication, indicating composure, professionalism, and being part of the group. However, the relentless focus on clothing also reveals that the person is under some kind of invisible pressure - a silent struggle between being true and showing. The language of the figures implies that the body is a kind of art that is carefully looked after, controlled, and clothed not only for ease but also for the verdict of others.
Weather and Stillness
In the entire book, the climate is depicted faintly through the subdued descriptive patterns: dull skies, weak daylight, cold air coming through the windows. These soft and round atmospheric pictures bring to mind the qualities of restraint and emotional distance which reflect the narrator’s inner silence and his/her hesitance. The quietness of the earth out of doors — breaks in the action, stopped moments — reflects the idea of psychological suspension. So, nothing has been brought to a close; all is left waiting. The meteorological images brought about by the novel serve to isolate the characters further, deepen their introspections and highlight the emotional cost of living in uncertainty.
The Empty Stage
The area for the show is portrayed through a few words but still powerful and evocative: it was dark before the light came up, there was dust which was made visible by the rays of light, and silence was so thick that it could be felt. This void was not shabby - it was full of potential for the change to come. The stage is turned into a transitional place where the separation between the actor’s personal self and the character disappear. This figurative language serves as the foundation of the novel’s idea of performance as both a revealing and hiding device which implies that identity is not found, but instead figured out, practiced, and finally put in jeopardy.
