Artists' LAB #8
Momo Akashi & Saki Kawamura's
​KOTSU-KOSTU
Saturday, Jan 31st, 2026
​7pm
At Grace & St. Paul's Church
​123 West 71st Street, New York
pc: Ai Toyoshima
About The Show:
​Kotsu-Kotsu follows a female BL manga artist quietly battling breast cancer while chasing deadlines and holding onto her creative spark. Behind the romance she draws lies her own story of resilience. As her footsteps echo onstage, you may hear your own—and discover the gentle, whimsical kindness of the world
ACTORS:
Sumire … MINAMI YOSHIMURA
Mother … SAORI GODA

TEAM CREDIT:
Written by MOMO AKASHI
Directed by SAKI KAWAMURA
Projection/Lighting designed by CHASE KNIFFEN
Costume designed by JEANNA DIPAOLO
Produced by MINAMI YOSHIMURA
MINAMI YOSHIMURA (Producer/Performer) is a New York–based performer originally from Tokyo, Japan. After working as a professional actor in Japan, she moved to New York in 2019 and graduated from the New York Film Academy. Favorite theatre credits include Kotsu-Kotsu (NuWorks Festival), Chushingura-47 Ronin(The A.R.T), Godspell (NYFA), Once Upon a Mattress (NYFA).

SAORI GODA (Performer) is a Japanese actress who began her career in theater at 18, later training at the Stella Adler Studio and HB Studio in New York. Her screen credits include Monumental Mysteries (Travel Channel), Love Your Selfie (NBC), and the award-winning My Daughter Yoshiko, for which she received multiple Best Actress awards at international festivals. In Compulsion, produced by Stone Street Studio, her performance was praised by Film Carnage: “Goda in particular does a great job of portraying the protective nature of a mother… and adds a very appropriate tinge of fear.” She also appeared in Cocktail Party and A Man Full of Days, and performed Off-Broadway in Chushingura.
IG: saori_goda

MOMO AKASHI (Playwright) is a New York-based playwright and lyricist who creates East-meets-West stories that blend the aesthetic elements of Japanese anime such as reverence for nature, the omnipresence of the supernatural, and the search for beauty with American theatrical writing. New York City premieres include: Letter(Downtown Urban Arts Festival Finalist), Kotsu-Kotsu (Pan Asian Rep’s NuWorks Festival), Everest (NAAP Discover Musicals), VOICE (Time Capsule Project, Commissioned by Mai Ozeki), The Show Must Go On (The Sixth Festival), Serenity and Delight (RenGyoSoh), The Restaurant of Many Orders (MuSE), and MINORU: Scrape the Sky (Los Angeles City College). As a lyricist, Momo released her first J-pop single, “Tokimeki,” with music by Zachary Catron and vocals by Joo Won Shin (Squid Game), which received nearly 20,000 streams within its first year of release. She is a 2026 Hedgebrook Residency cohort member and a semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.

SAKI KAWAMURA (Director) is a NYC-based theatre director originally from Japan. As an immigrant artist, Saki is interested in challenging notions of traditional American theatre by combining non-traditional theatrical elements, including butoh dance, visual arts, different languages, and devising. Her works reflect an international viewpoint, which incorporates Eastern culture and values. She aims to create theatrical experiences which will build bridges across cultures.

CHASE KNIFFEN (Projection/Lighting Designer) is a NYC-based director and designer.  Most recently, he directed and designed scenery and projections for the world-premiere production of Watcher in the Woods. He was the Associate Artistic Director of Virginia Repertory Theatre for ten seasons, where he produced, directed, and designed numerous productions. Select Directing credits include The Sound of Music, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, Other Desert Cities, Caroline, or Change, Violet, Next to Normal, Gypsy, Fun Home and South Pacific. He has won multiple Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards for his work on those productions. Chase has also designed sets, lighting, and projections for multiple plays, musicals and concerts. He received his BA in Theatre with a concentration on Scenic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University and his MFA in Directing from Pace University. www.chasekniffen.com.

JEANNA DIPAOLO (Costume design) is a NYC based Costume Designer who works primarily in theatre, dance, opera, and circus. Her recent design credits include: Miss Warrens Profession (Off Broadway- co design), Miss Jules (Culture Lab), Queer Space Network (Performance Art), Trevor Day School: Alice by Heart, Chemical Imbalance, Little Women, Steel Magnolias, Winter Dance Concert ’23-25, Grace Church School: Freaky Friday, Cyrano de Burgershack, Chicago, Fools, Winter Dance Concert ’23-25. Assistant credits include: Life of Pi (First National Tour), Blind Injustice (Jazz for Lincoln Center), The Little Mermaid (MUNY), Grapes of Wrath (Carnegie Hall), The Twelve and Anne of Green Gables (Goodspeed Opera), Canvas Sky (Hideaway Circus), Vanities (York Theatre). BFA in Costume Design from SUNY Purchase College and member of 829 Designers Union. 
Date & Time
Sat. Jan 31, 2026
7pm

VENUE
Grace & St. Paul's Church
(123 W71st, New York) 

​RUN TIME
minuets
​
TICKET INFO
FREE