The four costumes are from the play Rashomon produced by TheatreWorks. Staged at Drama Centre (May 7-11, 1986), the play was directed by Lim Siauw Chong and William Teo. The costumes were designed by Thomas Wee, the well-known late Singapore designer. He got his inspiration from various sources including Kabuki plays and the Tang Dynasty . According to the program notes, Wee came up with designs of tradition Japanese cut, "made with colorful and printed fabrics and lots of built-up padding made with billowy net to give a bigger very opera effect". The costume budget was 1000SGD. Three sewing girls took 10 days to complete the details. Of the four costumes the one in grass was most likely tailored for the cast playing the woodcutterRashomon is originally a Japanese classic by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In 1951, the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon in 1951 with actors such as Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyu, In 1959, the play based on dramatic text by Fay and Michael Kanin was staged in 1959 in New York. The TheatreWorks production based on the Kanins' text, featured Lim Kay Tong as the bandit and Lim Kay Siu as the Samurai with Christine Lim as the wife.
