"Sawako Goda (サワコ・ゴダ / Sawako Goda) - Jōkyō Gekijō (Situation Theatre) — Tekkamen 「鉄仮面」 (“The Iron Mask”), Japanese Contemporary Art Poster, Original Offset Screen 1972, Ultra Rare, Size (c.80 x 108cm)

Jōkyō Gekijō (Situation Theatre) — Tekkamen 「鉄仮面」 (“The Iron Mask”)
Written & Directed by Jūrō Kara (唐十郎) | Poster art: Sawako Goda (サワコ・ゴダ / Sawako Goda)
Original B1 theatre poster | 1972 | Offset lithograph | Approx. 80 × 110 cm

Jūrō Kara’s Jōkyō Gekijō (“Situation Theatre”)—famed for its roving Red Tent productions—was a pillar of Japan’s angura (underground) theatre boom of the late 1960s–70s. The movement fused radical performance with equally radical graphics, commissioning artists to produce audacious, collectible posters. Designers such as Tadanori Yokoo (notably for Terayama’s Tenjō Sajiki) and Kiyoshi Awazu shaped the era’s visual language; their theatre work is now canonised in museum shows and books on angura posters. 

This large-format sheet is a rare Jōkyō Gekijō poster for “Tekkamen / The Iron Mask.” The artwork is signed “Sawako Goda” at lower left. Goda (1940–2016) was an independent artist who moved freely between painting, objects and image-making—her work has been surveyed in recent monographs and gallery retrospectives—making her appearance on a Kara poster especially notable. 

Design & typography

• Surreal tableau: A spectral woman raises a black card while, behind her, a puppet‑like man—chained—tilts out from a window. Above, a giant hand presses down a glass plate. A burnished armoured head (“iron mask”) confronts the scene at right. The dream‑logic image fits Kara’s theatre of metamorphosis and disguise.

• Title as sculpture: The title 「鉄仮面」 (Tekkamen) is rendered in high‑impact vermilion, stacked vertically like a monolith; at its shoulder runs 「乞食オペラ」(Kojiki Opera / “Beggar Opera”), a favourite Kara tag line for his Red Tent pieces.

• Jōkyō Gekijō masthead: The troupe name 「状況劇場」 reads down the left margin in electric blue.

• Poetic copy (in blue, within the image):
  “A scent—just like the breath of the dead from that day—drifts over the riverbed the day after a storm. Who knew this scent could summon the iron mask onto a ravaged soul…”
  (free translation from the vertical Japanese text on the poster)

Performance & ticketing copy (translated from the poster)

• Venue: Ueno Shinobazu‑ike Suijō Ongakudō (Ueno Shinobazu Pond Open‑Air Music Hall), Tokyo

• Curtain: 6:30 PM

• Tickets: Advance ¥600 / Day ¥700

• Run: Saturdays & Sundays — Oct. 14–15, 21–22, 28–29; Nov. 4–5, 11–12, 18–19, 25–26

• Booking: Tel. 369‑0996

• Advance outlets (Play Guides): Nihonbashi Takashimaya / Shinjuku Odakyū / Ueno ABAB / Ginza Play Guide / Seibu Department Store (Capsule) / Isetan (as listed)

• Bottom margin features a small CURIO / Seibu Shibuya (B館B1F) mark—pointing to the department‑store design shop that retailed avant‑garde graphics and theatre ephemera in this period.

Context: theatre posters as art

Posters for angura troupes were printed in very small runs, meant to be pasted in neighbourhoods or sold at tent performances—hence their survival rate is extremely low. Institutions and publishers now treat them as stand‑alone graphic artworks (see PARCO’s “Japan Avant‑Garde Poster Masterpieces” and recent exhibitions spotlighting posters for Kara’s Situation Theatre and Terayama’s Tenjō Sajiki).

Condition

Excellent, large B1 example with rich inks and a clean, satiny surface. Minor, normal edge touches only; no folds, losses or repairs visible in hand. An exceptionally well‑preserved Red Tent poster of impressive scale.

Key details

• Title: Tekkamen 「鉄仮面」 (The Iron Mask)

• Troupe / Director: Jōkyō Gekijō (Situation Theatre) / Jūrō Kara (writer–director) 

• Artist: Sawako Goda (signature in image) 

• Medium: Offset lithograph

• Size: B1 — approx. 80 × 110 cm

• Place & dates on poster: Ueno Shinobazu‑ike Open‑Air Music Hall; October–November (Saturdays/Sundays) [year 1972; consistent with pricing/typography]

• Provenance: Japan; private collection

• Rarity: Very scarce Jōkyō Gekijō sheet; few large B1s survive from this period.

Certificate of Authenticity included.
Please examine the provided detail images—this is the exact poster offered.