Kensuke Yokouchi shares his thoughts on the main performance of the Magcal Performing Arts Academy.

Regarding the cancellation of the performance "Momijizaka Memories" by Magcal Performing Arts Academy

The performances scheduled from March 19th (Sat) to 21st (Mon/Holiday) have been cancelled due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 among the academy students performing. This decision was made with the safety and well-being of our audience, performers, and staff as our top priority.
We sincerely apologize to all customers and those involved who were looking forward to the performance.

Regarding ticket refunds
Due to the cancellation of the performance, tickets purchased will be refunded.

The Magcal Performing Arts Academy, established in 2014 by Kanagawa Prefecture with playwright and director Kensuke Yokouchi as its head, aims to cultivate talent in the performing arts.
The academy students have spent their time here at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center receiving authentic and practical lessons in vocal music, dance, and acting from top-class instructors in each field, while striving to improve themselves through friendly competition.
"Baito Show," a work that represents the culmination of the academy students' efforts, became a hot topic from its first performance in 2016 as a theater-within-a-theater, using the entire theater as a stage by creating seating on a revolving stage at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Momijizaka Hall, rotating the audience along with the stage. By 2020, all five performances had been completed.

The academy will be staging a new omnibus musical in March 2022.
Encounters and partings, the passionate feelings and tears of young people, joy and bonds.
"Momijizaka Memories - Dedicated to Those Who Climbed This Hill -" is an anthology musical exploring the memories contained within Momijizaka Hill.

What were the thoughts behind this culminating work featuring all the academy students?
We spoke with Kensuke Yokouchi, who served as the writer and executive producer.

Kensuke Yokouchi

Yokouchi's starting point: "Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center"

The reason I started the academy was because of a prefectural project that aimed to revitalize Kanagawa Prefecture by making "culture" one of its pillars. At the time, various cultural figures with ties to Kanagawa Prefecture, including myself, were approached.
When I heard about the goal of promoting arts and culture in Kanagawa Prefecture, my first thought was to do something about the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center, a place that was very important to me.
The Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center was a pioneering and exceptionally excellent theater hall, even before the term "workshop" existed, where renowned up-and-coming playwrights and directors held workshops for high school students, and where drama competitions for junior and senior high schools were held.
So, I was still a member of the drama club, which I was planning to quit soon, when I saw Kohei Tsuka's "Atami Murder Case," which would later become a masterpiece, for the first time.

I was so amazed that something so fascinating existed in the world, and it completely changed my life.
The Youth Center became the place where I decided to pursue a career in theater; in a sense, it was my starting point. My first play, which I wrote at the age of 16, inspired by Tsukasa, was performed at the Kanagawa Prefecture competition held there.
This place, which once shone as a mecca for young people who loved art, was gradually fading into obscurity as times changed. With that background in mind, I started this project because I wanted to make this important place shine again, and in a sense, give back in my own way.
And so, we decided to create a place specifically for training young people in theater, something that didn't exist in Kanagawa at the time, using this Youth Center as our base. Our goal was to one day establish a theater-focused "school" in Kanagawa Prefecture.

We are serious about developing professional players.

Now that we've created this space, we have to properly nurture the talent. Our goal is to provide thorough education and cultivate "true professionals."
Instructors such as Lucky Ikeda and Keiko Fukazawa taught with genuine effort and dedication.
However, training a young person with absolutely no experience from scratch isn't easy, and I struggled for the first two years or so (laughs).
It finally started to take shape around the third year, and gradually some students began going to music colleges or starting professional acting careers. It was definitely rewarding. More than anything, it was deeply moving to be raising children around the same age as I was back then, in the very place where I first discovered my passion for theater.

A scene from "Baito Show"

The "Bite Show" performance was the culmination of the academy students' hard work.

In 2016, the academy students finally reached the point where they could put on a performance.
It's called a theater-within-a-theater, where we created seating on the stage and rotated the audience along with the stage, making full use of the 360-degree stage. To be honest, at first we were worried about how many people would be able to attend this theater, which can hold 1000, so we came up with this idea after a lot of trial and error, but it was a huge success. It was a performance that could only be done at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center, which has a revolving stage.
And during the curtain call, I vowed, "Someday, I'll fill the theater to capacity."

A scene from "Baito Show"

A scene from the ending of "Baito Show"

Performing Arts Academy's culmination of 8 years: "Momijizaka Memories - Dedicated to those who climbed this hill -"

The Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center is a mecca for theater, and a sacred place for me as well.
Many people, including myself, have climbed this hill, each with their own hopes and dreams, aiming for this place at the top of Momijizaka Hill.
The story of the magistrate's offices, which flourished from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji era, is a theme I've been developing for a long time.
By tracing its history in this way, I created an anthology-style, documentary-esque work that tells the stories of the landscapes, places, and memories that this slope has witnessed.
As mentioned earlier, until now we've placed audience seats on the stage, but this time we'll be using real audience seats "as audience seats" for the first time (laughs). Furthermore, by removing approximately the first six rows of audience seats and using them as part of the stage, we'll transform the entire venue into a sloping, hilly area.
This show includes memorable scenes from "Baito Show," which originated on this very hill, and I hope you'll enjoy this culminating performance, which is the culmination of our all-out efforts.

Passing the baton to the next generation

As I mentioned earlier, when we founded this academy, our ultimate goal was to establish a school. And that has actually come true. In April 2021, a Department of Performing Arts was newly established at Kanagawa Prefectural Kanagawa Sogo High School. This is a remarkable achievement, as it is the first specialized department for studying performing arts to be established at a public high school in the prefecture. And students are scheduled to participate in this performance as volunteers.
I want this performance to be a platform to carry on what we've been doing up until now: "We want to nurture and learn from true talent."
And of course, this applies to the performers, but just like it was for me, I believe there are people among those who come to see the show who will be introduced to theater here at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center and that this will lead to them pursuing careers in theater or stage productions in the future.
I'm really looking forward to it.

A message to academy students as they leave the nest