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Theater/Dance

"A shaggy head and shaky glasses - Chigeki Musical Yokohama, Japan"

「もじゃもじゃ頭とへらへら眼鏡 地劇ミュージカル 日本国 横浜 お浜様」

"Geki Musical Japan Yokohama Ohama"

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The Honmoku Juniten High School Drama Club created a script called ``Nippon,'' based on the ``Chubya'' (a dance hall on the first floor and an inn for sexual intercourse on the second floor) that once existed in Honmoku, Yokohama, and the legendary star ``Meriken Ohama.'' Attempt to perform "Kuni Yokohama Ohama-sama" at the school festival. However, the adults objected, saying, ``It's not appropriate for the school spirit for high school students to act out a story about prostitutes.'' A completely original musical based on real people and places, set in a modern high school drama club, and intertwined with conflicts over sexuality and women's independence.

August 12th (Sat) 14:00~/18:30~, 13th (Sun) 12:00~/16:00~
*The afternoon session on the 12th will be an after-talk event, and the other sessions will include a mini-review show.
Venue: Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Hall (Nearest stations: Sakuragicho Station, Hinodecho Station)
¥4000 General, ¥2000 University students, vocational school students, drama students, high school students and under (+200 yen on the day)

Ticket Reservation
Confetti
http://confetti-web.com/mojahera
(Available 24 hours)
0120-240-540 *Toll free/operator support
(Reception hours weekdays 10:00-18:00)

Crowdfunding (Deadline: August 6th)
I would like to show students the local theater musical “Ohama-sama, Yokohama, Japan” for free, which touches on the history of Honmoku.
https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/32103
*Elementary, junior high and high school students, theater trainees, and university students residing in the prefecture can attend the theater for free.

◇The environment is the same in both Chubu-ya and modern times. It's interesting because there are people who collide with each other ◇

・Please tell us about your role and what you find appealing about this performance.

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: Moe Miyake, who plays the role of "Mika," a second-year student at Honmoku Juniten High School.

Mr. Miyake: I'm Moe Miyake, who plays the role of "Mika," a second-year student at Honmoku Juniten High School.
She plays the role of a strong-willed high school girl who hates losing, so much so that the author calls her ``angry twintails.''
She hates lies and has a strong sense of justice, so she is the type of child who will confront anything she thinks is wrong, even by saying it out loud, even to her teacher.

・Miyake-san is an active high school girl, right? Are there actually very few such students in high school today?

Mr. Miyake: No! Everyone is nice on the outside, but behind the scenes they say a lot of bad things and post things on social media. I never talk back to people face to face. I'd say there are a lot of good girls. In this role, there are many scenes where he expresses anger, and it's troubling that when he gets angry, he becomes childish. I'm currently looking for variations on how to express my anger so that it doesn't become one pattern. In this performance, I would like you to see them honestly expressing their opinions, and to see the dancing and singing of the main performers of Chabu-ya. It's filled with the fun that can only be found in musicals, where the flamboyance of dance and singing are intertwined.

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Mika's classmate Waka Matsumoto, who plays the role of the theater club's vice president, goes by the name "Rei."

Matsumoto-san: I'm Mika's classmate, Waka Matsumoto, who plays the role of "Rei," the vice president of the drama club.
I also play the role of a hot-blooded guy who doesn't bend, because I immediately say anything I think is wrong, so we often clash. It reminds me of when I was an elementary school student, or rather, there are many parts of the role that I feel overlap with my old self.

・Will it be easier for you to play a role because there are many parts that overlap with you?

Mr. Matsumoto: It's hard to say that it's easy to get into a role because they expose the things they don't like about themselves, or rather, they don't want to admit it even though they have things in common. Also, it's difficult because the script contains expressions that we today would want to look away from, say, or see. Still, you can really enjoy not only the dancing but also the singing in this musical. What I would like you to pay particular attention to are the lyrics. The writer, Mr. Kawata, also wrote the lyrics, but there are so many things he wants to say and convey that it almost feels like rap at times. I want to sing properly so that I can convey those pent-up feelings to the audience.

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Atsuyuki Tanaka plays the role of Jisaburo Kurata, a real person who created a chabu street in Honmoku.

Mr. Tanaka: I'm Atsuyuki Tanaka, who plays the role of Jisaburo Kurata, a real person who created the Chub Shopping District in Honmoku, Yokohama.
This is my third time playing this role, and at first I thought it was a happy, goofy businessman. However, as I played the role over and over again, I realized that it wasn't that simple. Even if they smile, there are adults whose eyes don't smile. Now I'm starting to think that he must have had a hidden side like a politician.

・Did you know that because you continued to conduct interviews for your role, such as walking around the former Chubu store area and visiting descendants of Mr. Kurata?

Mr. Tanaka: Besides that, I think it's because I read a lot of materials from the time when Kurata was alive. He must have been a smart and attractive man who bought the land of Honmoku and turned it into his own empire, leaving behind a culture. I'm sure he was a considerable person who was also a murderer behind his smile. The appeal of the performance is that it shows so many people who are in conflict because of their honesty. The location is Chubu Yagai, but the environment is the same even in modern times. Although the Chubu street is no longer there, it is true that it was there. What is wrong and what should we leave behind? With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to be held, there will be a lot of attention from other countries, and I think it's important for us as Japanese people to preserve our history, even if something like this actually happened. What will you leave in your heart after watching it? Furthermore, I hope to create a performance that leaves some meaning behind for the children who will become adults in the future.

◇The reason I became a professional director was the Yokohama Civic Musical I saw in high school◇

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(Left, director Mr. Sasaura. Right, Mr. Tanaka)

・I would like to ask Mr. Sasaura, the director. I feel that the performances that have been based on Ukiyo Hotel so far have a consistent theme of women's independence and sexuality.

Ms. Sasaura: Although the author Kawata has always focused on women's independence, and says that employment opportunities for men and women have become equal, the proportion of women in executive and managerial positions is still low. Many of my works are based on themes such as the absurdity that women feel and the misgivings they have about society.

・The shaggy head and the flattened glasses are a unit of the director and scriptwriter, and are not the name of a theater company. Is there any reason you don't have a theater company?

Mr. Sasaura: When you become a theater company with actors, there are bound to be some actors who don't fit into the work you write. I think it would be better for both of us to find actors who fit perfectly with the work I've written through auditions, or to request them on a case-by-case basis. In addition to 25 actors, there will be one guest participating in each performance of the local musical.

・It's a rational way of thinking, but aren't the opinions of the two of you colliding?

Mr. Sasaura: Perhaps because Kawata spent his childhood in Switzerland, he has an international sensibility, is strong-willed, and is a person who always says what he wants to say. I'm also someone who wants to say what I think right away, so we often fight. But I think it's easier if we can express our thoughts to each other. In the rehearsal room, the actors and staff all get along well, with an atmosphere where everyone can say what they want to say to each other.

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(Left, Mr. Matsumoto. Right, Mr. Miyake)

・You have been involved in prefectural projects since 2014 when you held a theater performance at the prefectural office. Have you always had an interest in regional theater?

Mr. Sasaura: We are active mainly in Kanagawa Prefecture. We had originally held community plays, but at the time, at a ``Dialogue Plaza'' sponsored by the prefecture, Governor Kuroiwa of the prefecture said about the Magcal initiative, ``It would be nice to use the main conference hall of the main government building as a theater.'' After hearing this, Kawata asked a general question, ``Then, what should we do to perform theater here?'' and it all started. Four months after the talks progressed, it was decided that we would actually be doing a theater performance, and I was amazed at how fast it happened in Kanagawa Prefecture.

・Mr. Sasaura, please tell us what made you decide to become a director.

Mr. Sasaura: Actually, I didn't have any specific desire to do theater. When I was in high school, I went to see a citizen-participation musical in Yokohama, and I remember thinking it was amazing. After entering university, I began participating in a citizen participation musical called ``Constitutional Drama.'' From that experience, I learned various kinds of staff work, and I found it much more fun to do it on-site than what I was taught at university. I became so engrossed in it that I couldn't stand the gap between myself and the field and ended up dropping out.

・Do you mean that you became a director because of the citizen musical, and are now working on a local theater musical?

Mr. Sasaura: The members met through a citizen musical, and we planned a performance that was only going to be performed once, but it ended up being a huge profit. "This is terrible. I have to keep going," I thought as I announced the next performance. However, after that, even though we hired proper professional staff and held performances, we continued to lose money. I don't think there are many people who go on to become professionals after starting out in citizen musicals, but I think that citizen-participatory theater, which anyone can participate in, is important for the community. Similarly, with the aim of revitalizing the region through theater while being connected to the community, there are Botchan Theater in Ehime Prefecture and Warabi-za in Akita Prefecture, which do not end with acting, but rather provide opportunities for exposure to theater. I think it would be great if there was an environment that looked ahead to the future and fostered people.

・The Prefectural Youth Center is named Magcal Theater. It seems that this performance will be the first time they are trying out crowdfunding (about half of the target amount of 500,000 yen has been achieved as of July 19th at the time of interview).

Mr. Sasaura: Yes. I'm taking on the challenge because I really want students to see it. We are portraying things, people, and culture that really existed in Honmoku, Yokohama, mixed with lies. Prostitution and brothels are topics that are rarely covered on TV or other media, but by showing them in a play, children can learn about such culture and use it as a basis for making decisions about what to do next. There is a way of expression that can only be conveyed through theater. I want people to come into contact with theater more on a daily basis, and in this performance, I want to use it as a musical with dance and song to convey to the world, ``Why can't we convey this through theater?'' .

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(From left during song rehearsal: Maki Kitamura, who plays the role of Meriken Ohama, Moe Yasujima, who plays the role of high school girl Nana, and Shiori Kiuchi, who plays the lead role of high school girl Saki)

Upcoming performances
"Punk Drunker"
October 20th (Friday) to 28th (Saturday) Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol
Screenplay: Shinichiro Midori (Theatrical Producer "Spiral Staircase")
Director: Nobuhiro Sasaura (shaggy head/eel plan)
Tickets will go on sale from August 19th.

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