Hajime Juku Boarding School x Tokyo Deathlock = A theatrical experience learning from children!
"Anti Human Education II," a collaboration between the boarding school Hajime Juku and Tokyo Deathlock, was planned as one of the entries for MagFes '20. Teenagers from a free school responded to director Junnosuke Tada's (founder of Tokyo Deathlock) call to "create theater!" and have been working on workshops for about two months since December of last year.
Due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance itself was canceled, and a presentation was held on February 28th (Friday) at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Studio HIKARI without an audience (only staff members were in attendance). However, we believe that the significance of outreach activities (artist-led outreach services) lies in the efforts leading up to the actual performance, so this report details the journey leading up to that presentation.
I've known Ms. Tada and the children at Hajime Juku for about three years now. Until now, we've only held workshops once a year, but this time, we've recruited participants again with the goal of creating a theatrical production.
Rehearsals began on December 26th of last year. Since then, we've been meeting about once a week, mainly on weekends, to hold workshops such as word games.
"The fun of theater lies in the process of trial and error, and sometimes there's even the appeal of it never being 'finished.' Rather than me teaching them something, I'm thinking together with them and saying, 'Let's try it because it's interesting,'" (Tada).
In the workshop held in early February, discussions that would form the framework of the "theater" were just beginning. It seemed the theme was related to school lessons. First, each participant listed things that came to mind, such as "morning scenes," "things they disliked being forced to experience," and "things they wanted to try." I was very curious to see what kind of "theater" they would create…
"If necessary, I might create some text, but there's no process where I invent new words and make them memorize them. The audience's reaction will be different each time, so in that sense, I don't know what will happen during the actual performance either (laughs)," says Tada.
Then, on February 28th (Friday), the day of the results presentation, the contents of the discussions held by the four teams were posted along the wall of HIKARI.
There's the team that wants to understand children's feelings, the group silent observation team, the gossiping team, and the crowded train team. I have no idea what the conversation will be about, but the bell has rung to signal the start of the "lesson," so I take my seat.
The morning session, preceding the regular class, began with chanting, following the school's tradition. Handouts were distributed to the audience, and everyone enthusiastically chanted the Heart Sutra together.
The first lesson is "Understanding Children's Feelings."
I couldn't help but chuckle at the scene where the teacher, standing on the podium (stage), was imposing "adult logic" on the students in the classroom (audience), but at the same time, it pained me somewhat. It made me reflect on my own behavior and realize that children are watching adults' unreasonable words and actions with a critical eye.
I was surprised when the child sitting next to me suddenly started talking to me, only to realize that it was one of the children from Hajime Juku, who are "actors," sitting with me. It's not so much an "audience participation" type of performance, but rather a theatrical experience where the stage and the audience are seamlessly integrated, with no boundary between them.
The second period was "Collective Silence".
To stop adults from engaging in unacceptable behaviors such as spitting, littering, and using their phones while walking, everyone silently surrounds the person committing the act. That's the "Group Silence Game." So, we cleared the stage and the audience seats and tried it out ourselves. It hit a sore spot: "You can't do anything when you're being watched by others!"
After a break, the third session was titled "Gossip." In keeping with the theme, the audience seating arrangement had changed to surround the stage.
It's fun to say, but sad to hear. It makes me wonder what the children were thinking as they discussed this topic.
The fourth lesson is "Crowded Trains".
During rush hour, some train lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area have passenger occupancy rates exceeding 150%. We're often told to "become an adult who understands other people's feelings," but the environment of a packed train is a situation where "if you understand other people's feelings, you can't survive..."
"Anti Human Education II," a collaboration between the boarding school Hajime Juku and Tokyo Deathlock, is scheduled to be performed again at a later date. I won't reveal any more details to avoid spoilers, so if you find a theme that interests you, please come and see the performance!
We asked the students for their impressions after the presentation of their results.
"Unlike when we present at workshops or at the Hajime Juku, this time we're selling tickets and putting on a performance, so the level of seriousness is different. I enjoyed the process of being 'serious' in that way. It seems this performance will be held again in a different format, but it means we have more time to practice, so I think that's a good thing." (Bibi)
"At first, we were just playing games like tag and Red Light, Green Light (laughs). We were talking about how it might be surprisingly fun to turn everyday things into a play, and before we knew it, we were starting. We had no idea how it would turn out, but it was fun!" (Moeno, Fu-chan, Kazu, and Akari)
Production Notes
How did you find this workshop?
Tada: The way they go through trial and error is like watching a play. They only rehearse about once a week, but it's interesting to see what they come up with in between. They receive feedback from other teams on their presentations and change something before the next one; their ability to adapt is amazing.
Even if there are problems during the actual performance, overcoming them is also part of theater, so I think the experiences we have during the performance are important.
Since it's an audience-participation event, I hope the audience will do their best too.
What exactly are outreach activities?
I feel that Tada School tends to teach only what is "right," and can easily become insular. In that respect, art is about accepting mistakes and saying, "It's okay to be a little bit wrong." In other words, I think there is meaning in having artists, whether through dance or music, go and create a slightly different experience than usual.
In our theater outreach, we don't aim to teach acting itself, but rather to encourage the idea of "trying out your own expression." Things that would normally get you in trouble can be portrayed in theater without fear of reprimand, allowing you to express your feelings directly. For example, a child who doesn't usually listen to others might be incredibly good at acting out a role where they don't listen (laughs). Conversely, by acting out something you're not good at in theater, you might gain a better understanding of how others feel.
What did you think of the presentation of results?
Tada: Today, the children's responses to the audience were met with great enthusiasm, so I think we were able to perform better than during practice. Even though it was a recital, it was an experience very close to the real thing, so I think it broadened the range of ideas they can come up with for next time, such as "maybe we can do even more like this."
