Fun to watch and listen to! A fun, light-hearted yet deeply moving musical by the theater company "Azuma no Chi"

("Drape the Strange Land" will be performed at KAAT in 2020)

A commemorative performance by the group "Azumi no Chi," winner of the Kanagawa Short Play Award 2021 Grand Prize, will be held at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Studio HIKARI from February 23rd to 26th, 2023 (scheduled).
"Azumi no Chi" is a Kyoto-based theater company and artist group that collaborates with various cultures to produce "mixed media" works.
This production, "Drape the Strange Land," has been performed in Kanagawa, Kyoto, Shizuoka, and overseas in England and Germany, in various forms ranging from a one-person play to a nine-person play.
The script and direction are by Masaya Okamoto. The costumes will be by Yushokobayashi, who also designed the play from the premiere, and the play will be reconstructed as a musical in collaboration with Yasuhiro Kasamatsu's music.
We welcomed three people who are deeply involved in the production and asked them about the highlights of the work.

-How did you feel when you performed "Bolero's Journey" at the Kanagawa Short Play Awards 2021 and won the Grand Prize?

Okamoto : I was very happy to win the grand prize.
At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height, and some groups were unable to participate due to coronavirus infection. The works performed also dealt with problems faced while living through the COVID-19 pandemic, so the entire theater world was in a gloomy and depressing mood, and the awards ceremony was held without an audience.
Winning the award gave us the opportunity to share the anxieties each of us had at the time and to have many discussions with the other members about how we plan to continue our activities in the future, which I felt was very valuable.
In addition, Mr. Kasamatsu, who provided the music for this competition, participated as a judge and said, "Although there are many difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, let's keep creating works!" This reminded us that, while the older generation has a lot of energy, we young people can't afford to be depressed! This made us feel motivated.
It was an inspiring awards ceremony that left a strong impression on me, as I was able to take part in a gathering of artists of all ages trying to achieve something great.

("Drape the Strange Land" will be performed at KAAT in 2020)

-What are the highlights of "Drape the Strange Land" which will be performed in February?

Okamoto : This is a play that has been performed many times by "A Place of Safe Residence."
The story is about a traveler feeling lonely in Europe who meets an "immigrant" in one country, and through their respective loneliness they begin to converse, despite speaking different languages.
As we go through life, how do we live with people who have different values and cultures than us? Even in everyday life, we feel many differences with other people, and I think the content of this work is relevant to that. Looking at it from a broader perspective, I think it also contains social issues and international situations, so I hope you enjoy it while thinking about those aspects as well.
From the premiere until now, the content has had a heavy, serious atmosphere, but this time the script has been brushed up and new costumes and music have been added to make it a light-hearted and fun piece.
It feels like the work is growing to a level that we could not have made on our own. That's the best part.
I think it will have a new look that can also be enjoyed as entertainment. It has been remade, so it feels like a new work. Because it is a musical, it has an atmosphere that even children can enjoy. Because it is a heavy subject, I want to make it a work that is "fun to watch and listen to," and that contains the issues behind it.

("Drape the Strange Land" will be performed at KAAT in 2020)

- Yushokobayashi, an up-and-coming fashion designer. You have been designing costumes since the premiere. Could you please tell us about the highlights of the costumes for this production?

Yushokobayashi : I met Okamoto-kun when I lived in London for five years, and we decided to create a work together. I remember collecting cheap materials at second-hand shops in the UK.
When I heard about the content of the work, I felt like I connected with the position of the immigrant characters, so I created my costume in a way that would express in the work "what it looks like from that position."
At the time, I was creating costumes based on the perspective and position of the immigrants in the work, so the "weight of that feeling" inevitably appeared in the work. However, after three years of returning to Japan, where I was born and raised, my perspective has shifted.
This time, I am remaking all the costumes that were used from the premiere to the last performance. I am currently researching and creating new costumes, thinking about how to remake the costumes from my perspective now that I am no longer an immigrant, when music is added and the work is reborn as a new piece. I am thinking about how to express the weight of the background contained within the bright and light atmosphere as fashion.
Above all, I want it to look interesting. I think it will be even deeper and more unique than the costumes worn in the premiere, so I hope you'll pay attention to the costumes.

(Yushokobayashi creating costumes)

《yushokobayashi》
Instagram: HERE

- Mr. Yasuhiro Kasamatsu, a world-renowned composer, please tell us about the key points of the music for this work.

Kasamatsu : By coincidence, I also spent about a month in London, where the story is set, and I could relate to the work in some ways.
Another memorable experience I had when I went to various countries as a cultural ambassador for the Agency for Cultural Affairs was in four countries in Central and South America. The members of the string quartet I met there were all of different nationalities, and some of them had experience as refugees. We exchanged many words, and I realized that each of them had a variety of experiences, thoughts, and values. I had been living for the past few years with the challenge of how to digest what I had learned there and incorporate it into my own work, and shortly after that, I was impressed by Okamoto's work as a judge.
The piece about wearing a foreign land was a perfect fit for the theme of my life right now.
I really wanted to be a part of this! I wanted to work with him as a musician! So I contacted Okamoto right after seeing the piece.
When the collaboration was decided and I saw the lines, I thought that I should make a song that would make people laugh even though the content was heavy, and that although it was an angry song, it should be a very fun song. I carefully thought out how to compose the lines, which are a mixture of Japanese, English, and German, into music. It was like a challenge from Okamoto. (laughs)
I took on the challenge with the feeling that no one else could do it. Putting different languages on the same melody. I may not have been able to do it when I was younger, but now that I have gained experience, I think I was able to do it because I had the know-how on what to do. I'm really glad that I found this opportunity at this time.
For this album, I have invited the wonderful guitarist Taro Sukegawa, whom I trust very much, to perform the music I created live. I hope you enjoy the bouncy, dynamic, and light sound that only he can produce.

Yasuhiro Kasamatsu
Profile: Here
"Taro Sukegawa"
Profile: Here

- Ayano Nakamura, who is a member of the theater company "Place of Peace" and will also be appearing in the production. Please tell us your thoughts on this production from an actor's perspective.

Nakamura : I have been involved with this work since its premiere as a one-man play. Although diversity is recognized, differences in language, culture, customs, and feelings still weigh heavily on the minds of people in various relationships.
"How should we perceive the differences that exist? Should we embrace them? Should we resist them? Where should we place ourselves?" This work is a story that explores such questions.
By using various elements such as music, costumes, actors, and the experience of performing in various places, I would like to create a production that will serve as an opportunity for people to reexamine what it means to be themselves.

(Performed outdoors at Shizuoka Strange Seed 2022)

-You all from Anjumochi are based in Kyoto, but please tell us about your enthusiasm for performing in Kanagawa.

Okamoto : It is very meaningful for us to perform in a place different from our base. The audience's reactions are very different depending on the region, so it's very interesting and educational. This is the first time we've performed a solo independent performance in Kanagawa, so we're very excited to meet the audience there!

The Kanagawa Short Play Awards is a very fond memory for Ansato.
On the day we won, we walked along the seashore, and the moment the members and I exchanged congratulations on winning the grand prize, a strong sea breeze blew in. It felt as if Kanagawa was celebrating with us. It's so memorable that we still talk about it, saying, "That breeze was so nice." I hope we can all go to that sea again to feel that breeze again!
The story is about travel, crossing borders, the sea, and so on, so I think this work is very suitable for Kanagawa. I hope many people will come and see it.

Safe Haven
Instagram: HERE
Official website: here