The place where plays are born
File.2 Kawasaki Romeo & Juliet
Koichi Imai (editor writer)
One of the dreams of Kawasaki Alice, a theater company based in Kawasaki City, is to expand overseas. It's nice to hear that today's young theater companies are aware of their abilities, but it's a little sad that they don't make such bold statements.
Ash, the director of a theater company, worked hard as a musical actress in a touring theater company in the United States when she was in her 20s.
``Of course, working in the United States means speaking English.'' At some point, I started to wonder, ``Why am I acting in English?'' I came back to Japan thinking that I wanted to take it to the next level.After searching for about two years, I heard that Tokyo University of the Arts was creating a course to study theater, and I thought, ``This is it!'' and applied to the university. I went back to school, not as an actor, but to learn how to direct."
Among the various theater people he met was Satoshi Miyagi, who heads the Ku Nauka Theater Company. Ku Nauka is a theater company that developed its own unique style, with two actors playing a role, one moving and one talking. However, what attracted Ash was not his acting style, but the fact that he was able to put ``Japanese language into music'' on stage.
The music that fills our daily lives is Western rhythms such as rock and pop. However, Ku Nauka's words had a rhythm that was comfortable for Japanese people. I was also attracted to the fact that they are actively performing overseas. He was invited to join Ku Nauka as a director and worked under Miyagi for a long time.
Then, when Miyagi moved to work as the general artistic director of SPAC (Shizuoka Arts Theater), he became independent. It's strange because that's how the relationship with Kawasaki City was born.
I received a job teaching drama at a high school, did a residency production for an Indonesian company related to Miyagi, and became close friends with the president of a design office. He began his theatrical career amidst multiple connections.
In fact, many of the members of ``Kawasaki Alice'' are former students who, after pursuing various career paths, got together and decided that ``I really wanted to do theater in Kawasaki.'' The rehearsal space is also provided by Kudan Design Office. Gradually, they began to put down roots in Kawasaki City.
*“Run Meros” at Engakuji Temple in Kamakura
``Due to Miyagi-san's relationship, I also attended Tadashi Suzuki's drama school in Toga Village.It was a shocking and interesting experience that completely overturned my concept of theater, but above all, I felt close to the local community. I was surprised to see that I was involved in activities while building strong relationships, and that I was doing theater while having a social impact.As I thought about it, I realized that I was also interested in involvement with the local community. I realized that I love what I do.''
*From Toga's "Blue Bird"
The reason why we chose "Alice" in the name of our theater company is because we aim to create a play where you can experience the feeling of being suddenly drawn into Wonderland and transported to an unreal world. Eight years have passed since the flag was raised. In 2017, Ash himself won the Outstanding Director Award at the Toga Theater Contest.
In December 2018, two versions of Kurenai and Hanada were performed at the Kawasaki Romeo & Juliet performance produced by Kawasaki City to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the opening of Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol. Handle it.
``I felt like we were able to take a new step as a theater company.I never wanted to end up as just a local theater company, and my dream from the beginning was to present works to the world. It took a while, but I'm glad that I was able to get the idea to produce a performance."
*“Yakuboshi” performed with high school students at Plaza Sol
Plaza Sol is a small theater inside a shopping center in front of Kawasaki Station. A relationship was formed by performing a play with high school students here.
``Romeo and Juliet'' is a masterpiece by Shakespeare that depicts the short-lived love between Romeo and Juliet, young men from two conflicting families. The story will be adapted into a story set in a town that seems to be Kawasaki about 200 years in the future, and will be turned into a musical drama with live music.
``When I say ``Future Romidjuri,'' it gives me the image of science fiction, but I always imagine what will happen to this work seven generations from now when I create it.It's a work that has been around for over 400 years already. , will continue to exist in the future.The world may be more advanced in technological innovation than it is now, but I think that the basic activities of humans will not change.Even if society and the environment change, we will continue to live as usual. “Romi Juri” should be performed.The setting is set 220 years from now, but we are all talking about what Kawasaki will be like by then.This performance will be performed in the future. I hope that this will be an opportunity to foster theater talent and foster Kawasaki's culture.''
A large-scale audition will be held this summer. The assembled members were divided into two groups, with the Kurenai group creating a piece that would be more in the artistic performance style that Ash is aiming for, and the Hanada group looking to create a work that deepens the drama of Romijuri.
*“Romeo and Juliet” production presentation
These days, stirring up conflict is becoming a global trend. Kawasaki is a microcosm of this, and Ash feels that even with these negative aspects, a lively and powerful city has been created. How will this story be received?
``I feel that everything in the world has a structure of conflict, to a greater or lesser degree.Human beings, in the first place, create conflict everywhere.Whether or not it becomes a fight, the tension of conflict There are things that are born. For example, art is the same. I think ``Romeo and Juliet'' will be a story that the people of Kawasaki, who live in a conflict and miscellaneous culture, can empathize with.''
Ash did not write the ending of the script. This is what young actors can achieve through repeated training in Kawasaki. Naturally, the endings for the two sets will be different.
``I think there are pros and cons to adapting a classic.I think it's okay to use the universal property of ``Romeo and Juliet'' to ``enrich lives.'' , we did it from the translation stage.We don't simply replace it with a story set in Kawasaki, but we aim to make it our own story.People who live in Kawasaki may find it hilarious.And Although it is tragic, I would be happy if the audience who saw this play could find a ray of hope in it."
*“Romi Juri” promotion @ Kosugi Festa
The members supporting the play are friends from their hometown of Kawasaki, as Ash says, ``We aimed for all the production staff to be Kawasaki.'' Theater is a live art form, so no matter how interesting something you create, you can only share the excitement with the people who were there at the time. The appeal of theater is its one-time nature, so we put a lot of effort into the visual aspect of disseminating information in advance. The local creative team ``Nokuchi Base'' supported the project. Its name comes from "Mizoguchi".
``Even though we wanted to put effort into things like flyers, our budget doesn't go that far due to our size.This time, the representative of Nokuchi Base said, ``Let's get our money through crowdfunding.'' hand. I will do my best to create a work that responds to the spirit of everyone in Kawasaki.”
This event has ended.
《Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol 12th Anniversary Public
"Kawasaki Romeo & Juliet"
■Date and time: December 6th (Thursday) - December 11th (Tuesday), 2018
■Venue: Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol
■Written by: W. Shakespeare
■Translation/adaptation/direction: Ash (Kawasaki Alice)
■Ticket information: General advance 4,000 yen / Kawasaki discount 3,800 yen / University and vocational school students 3,000 yen / High school students and under 2,000 yen
Danko set 7,600 yen *Advance reservations only. You can watch 2 performances
■Starting time: 6th and 7th 19:00, 8th and 9th 13:00/18:00, 10th 14:00/19:00, 11th 12:00/16:00
