The Sound of a Voice

"What details do you have to notice in order to understand the play?"

In order to understand The Sound of a Voice, you must pay attention to the relationship between the man and the woman. The woman mentions how when she's alone, she plays her shakuhachi to resemble a human voice. She later makes it clear that she wants the man to stay with her. This woman is lonely.

You also need to pay attention to the man. At the end of the play, he plans to leave the woman because he is in shame of "being defeated by her"; her skills with the sword are greater than his, and he is ashamed by this.

Once you realize these details, you will understand the play better, and why the characters act the way they do.