Koike Shuuichirou

Shuichiro Koike (born March 17 , 1955 ) is a Japanese playwright and stage director . He is from Tokyo. After graduating from Keio High School, he graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Letters. He is one of the most famous playwrights and directors of the Takarazuka Revue Company, which he joined in 1977. His debut play is the 1986 Snow Troupe production of Valentino ~Ai no Wawa~, based on the life of Hollywood actor Rudolph Valentino.

In 1996 , he was in charge of embellishing and directing the Takarazuka version of the hit Viennese, German-language musical "Elisabeth". Due to the Takarazuka tradition of emphasizing male roles, in the original, the supporting role of the Lord of the Underworld, Der Tod was placed in the lead role, and the magnificent love story centered on Der Tod was arranged in a way that was easy for Japanese audiences to understand. Since then, "Elisabeth" (starring Snow Troupe's Ichiro Maki and Hanafusa Mari) has become a popular work that has been repeatedly performed at Takarazuka (Koike has consistently been in charge of the replays).