Review: Beauty, Betrayal, and Tragedy in SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN

On February 28, 2026, the Japanese Literature major of Universitas Kristen Maranatha held their yearly production. Titled SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN, it is based on a Japanese urban legend – with a modern twist.

Jessica Nangoi returned as director with Hildegardis Ajeng Rahayu as assistant director. The script is credited to the “Cross Culture Understanding Class of 2025/2026” and Jessica. As tradition, the script is largely in Japanese, accompanied by segments in Bahasa Indonesia.

The show has a framing device – namely, a research done by a group of high schoolers in the journalism club: the gregarious Takashi (Tobias Yeremia Krisnandi), the inquisitive Honoka (Azra Nur Sabrina), and the contemplative Sayu (Athifah Azzahra Hartardi Syafrianti).

The three club members are doing research on local folklore, particularly the Kuchisake-Onna, or the Slit-Mouthed Woman. Throughout the show, they uncover the purported story behind this terrifying urban legend through newspaper articles, videos, and even gossip.

The legend begins with Amamiya Yui (Melynda Christie Kurniawan), a popular actress renowned for her beauty. She revels in the adoration of her fans on her livestreams, asking the viewers if they find her beautiful. She lives with her husband, Shirakawa Haruto (Gammara Aldrin Kenas), a famous sushi chef.

Their blissful marital life ends when a journalist spreads compromising photos of Yui with Kawasaki Ren (Gideon Nathanael), her own manager. Although these photos are taken out of context, the scandal is enough to ruin Yui’s reputation. Not only that, Haruto is driven mad with anger and slashes Yui’s face with one of his knives.

After having both her face and her marriage ruined, Yui goes on another livestream. She initially wears a mask on stream, but, upon her viewers’ insistence, she takes it off to reveal the scar on her face. She asks her audience if she’s still beautiful, but they are shocked and even scared. Driven to despair, Yui ends her own life on stream.

Yui then returns as Kuchisake-Onna (Flarenthia Abigail Yakim). A wandering vengeful spirit, she appears at crossroads, still wearing a medical mask, to ask passers-by if they find her beautiful. If she’s unsatisfied with their answer, she will attack them.

She also appears to the people in her previous life. To her husband Haruto, she appears to maim him for his distrust and betrayal. To her loyal manager Ren, she expresses gratitude for believing in her, and regret because he got dragged into this mess through no fault of his own.

The Kuchisake-Onna even appears to the journalist who spread the photos; as it turns out, her name is Mizuno Airi (Gracia Natalina Sigiro). She was a schoolmate of Haruto who had a crush on him; her jealousy of Yui pushed her to instigate the scandal. Needless to say, she too fell victim to the Kuchisake-Onna.

At the end of the show, the journalistic club members reconvene and review the results of their research. Despite everything they discovered, they acknowledge that it’s impossible to confirm if all the information they have received is true, especially regarding the Kuchisake-Onna. But they agree on one thing – there was a real tragedy that happened to a real person. Perhaps, some stories are better left undisturbed.

SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN is an interesting spin on a well-known urban legend. Although it retains horror elements, it is more strongly a drama play with investigative elements. Additionally, this play recontextualizes the story for the modern era, instead of its 1970s roots. This is a largely positive creative decision to connect the story to the audience, although it does raise some questions about how Yui’s story gets buried in this hyper-connected age with unforgiving digital footprints.

This more nuanced take is pretty fitting for today’s audience, who are more used to shades of grey in their stories – even horror ones. The Kuchisake Onna is not merely a slasher monster, but a tragic figure who nevertheless has committed cruelty and violence herself. This complex take makes her later appearances intriguing – how much humanity does she retain, especially when she appears in front of her manager and her fans? This anticipation of either a moment of violence or traces of humanity keeps us on the edge of our seats.

Another satisfyingly surprising character is Ren. At first, I expected him to be a part of a love triangle with Yui and Haruto. But he is instead depicted as a truly well-meaning and earnest manager, who considers Yui a dear friend and precious colleague. It’s a refreshing take that makes his scene with the Kuchisake Onna all the more poignant.

That being said, as with other recontextualization of villains (as seen in shows like Wicked or Unfortunate), other characters instead become the relatively flat antagonists. In this case, it’s both Haruto and Airi. Although some details might have been lost on me as I do not speak Japanese, I get the impression that they are both rather unexplored in their characterization and motivation.

As for the narrator characters – i.e. the school journalists, I believe having three characters instead of last year’s two is a brilliant choice. Their scenes become more dynamic, as THE different personalities lead to more varied interactions. They even have different outlooks on the unfolding story, adding a subtle but much appreciated layer of commentary on how we perceive rumors, both about the supernatural and real people.

The acting of the cast is decent, considering most of them are not actors. They are mostly students of the Cross Culture Understanding Class of 2025/2026 who joined the show as their final project, with some help from both upperclassmen and underclassmen. Gideon Nathanael’s acting in particular was effective in portraying the character’s loneliness and grief. However, the line delivery during the narration scenes still sometimes comes across as stilted and repetitive; upon further reflection, this is LIKELY due to the lines being meant to be Japanese in-story, but translated into Indonesian, which has different cadence.

The artistic direction and production design in SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN are both great. The lighting in particular is quite inspired, playing with darkness and light during the overtly horror scenes to build a dreamlike, mystical atmosphere. The show also plays around with creative blocking, such as when Yui’s viewers surround her on stage during her livestream session, putting her in a highly visible and vulnerable position. Unfortunately, the sound effects came slightly late during some scenes that required synchronicity (understandable, considering the logistical limitations of a university theater).

Overall, SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN is a quite fresh and nuanced take on a well-known urban legend, with some solid creative decisions. The new approach to the framing device makes this show feel relevant and timely.. Most importantly, it reminds us that the juicy stories we love to consume – including celebrity gossip, true crime, and even some folktales – actually concern real, actual people.

Broadwayworld Indonesia was a media partner of SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN.