Boarding School Hajime Juku x Tokyo Deathlock = A theatrical experience learning from children!
Anti Human Education II, a project by the boarding school Hajime Juku and Tokyo Deathlock, was planned as one of the works participating in MagFes '20. In response to a call from director Junnosuke Tada (head of Tokyo Deathlock) to "create a play," teenagers from a free school have been working on a workshop for about two months since December last year.
Due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance itself was canceled, and a recital was held without an audience (only those involved participated) at Studio HIKARI, Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center, on Friday, February 28th. However, as an outreach activity (a service provided by artists on-site), we believe that the significance lies in the efforts leading up to the actual performance, so this time we will report on the journey to the recital.
Tada-san has been working with the children at Hajime Juku for about three years. Until now, they only held workshops once a year, but this time they once again recruited participants with the goal of creating a theatrical production.
Rehearsals began on December 26th of last year. Since then, they have met about once a week, mainly on weekends, to hold workshops such as word games.
"The fun of theater is creating it through repeated trial and error, and sometimes it's interesting to have something that's incomplete. Rather than me teaching them something, I think about it together with them, and I say, "This is interesting, so let's give it a try." (Tada)
At the workshop in early February, the discussions that would form the framework for the "play" had already begun. It seemed that the theme was related to school classes. First, each participant listed what they remembered, such as "morning scenery," "things they hated being forced to experience," and "things they wanted to try." They were all curious to see what kind of "play" would come out.
"If necessary, I may create some text, but I don't make up new words and have them memorize them. The audience's reaction will be different depending on the show, so in that sense, I don't know what will happen in the actual show (laughs)," says Tada.
On Friday, February 28th, the results presentation took place. On the wall of HIKARI, the contents of the discussions that had been held in the four teams were posted.
There was the team that tried to understand the children's feelings, the group silent stare team, the shadowy mouth team, and the crowded train team. I had no idea what the topic would be, but the bell rang to signal the start of "lesson," so I took my seat.
The morning session before the class started with a sutra reading, as is customary at the school. Printed versions were distributed to the audience, so everyone enthusiastically recited the Heart Sutra.
The first lesson is about "understanding children's feelings."
While I chuckle bitterly at the teacher standing on the podium (stage) forcing the "adult logic" on the students in the classroom (audience), it also makes me feel a little sad. I reflected on my own experience and realized that children look at the unreasonable words and actions of adults with harsh eyes.
I was surprised when the child sitting next to me suddenly started talking to me, and the "actors" from the Hajime Juku school were sitting with me. Rather than being "audience participation type," it was a theater performance where there was no boundary between the stage and the audience, and they were all one and the same.
The second lesson is "Collective Silence."
In order to stop unforgivable adult behavior such as spitting, littering, and using smartphones while walking, everyone silently surrounds the person who did it. That's the "Collective Silent Gazing Game." So, we cleared the stage and the audience seats and tried it out together. It felt like a sore spot was hit: "You can't do anything if other people are watching you!"
After a break, the third period was "Kageguchi." In keeping with the theme, the audience seats were arranged in a way that surrounded the stage.
It's fun to say, but sad to hear it. It makes you wonder what the children were thinking when they discussed this topic.
The fourth period is "Crowded Train".
During rush hour, some train lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area have occupancy rates exceeding 150%. People often say, "Become an adult who understands other people's feelings," but the environment of a crowded train is one in which "if you understand other people's feelings, you can't survive."
"Anti Human Education II" by Boarding School Hajime Juku and Tokyo Deathlock is scheduled to be performed at a later date. Any further information would be a spoiler, so if you find a theme that interests you, please come and see the show!
We asked the students for their impressions after the presentation.
"Unlike when we present at workshops or at Hajime Juku, this time we are selling tickets and performing, so we are taking it seriously. Getting serious was fun in itself. It seems that this performance will be held in a different format, but it means we have more time to practice, so I think that's good in itself." (Bibi)
"At first, we just played around, playing games like tag and "Daruma-san ga koronda" (The Daruma dolls falling down). We were talking about how we might be able to convey something interesting by turning something that is familiar to us into a play, and before we knew it, we had started. We had no idea what to expect, but it was fun!" (Moeno & Fuu-chan & Kazu & Akari)
Production Notes
How was this workshop?
Tada: The fact that they keep repeating trial and error is like watching a play. They only have rehearsals about once a week, but it's interesting to see how they come up with different ideas during those times. They receive feedback from other teams about their presentations, and make some changes to them for the next performance. Their adaptability is amazing.
Even if there are problems during the performance, overcoming them is part of theater, so I think it's important to consider what kind of experiences you have during the performance.
It's an audience participation type event, so I hope the audience will do their best too.
What is outreach activity?
Tada Schools tend to teach only the "right" things, and I feel that they tend to be closed off. In that respect, art is about accepting mistakes and saying, "It's okay the way it is." In other words, I think it's meaningful for artists to go and create a time that's a little different from usual, whether it's dance or music.
In our theater outreach, we don't teach theater, but rather we want to teach people to "try expressing themselves." Even if you would normally get scolded for something, you won't get scolded in theater, so you can try expressing how you feel. For example, if a girl who normally doesn't listen to others acts in a play where she doesn't listen to others, she's really good at it (laughs). On the other hand, by trying to act out something that you normally don't like, you can sometimes understand the feelings of people who do that.
What did you think of the results presentation?
Tada : Today, the audience responded well to the children's questions, so I think they were able to perform better than they did during practice. Even though it was a presentation of their results, they were able to have an experience close to the real thing, so I think it has broadened the scope of what they can imagine next time, such as "Maybe they can do this more like this."
