The King of Dramas Unified Tournament 2015 ~ Bay City Royale! in KAAT | Interview with the winner!

In February, the "Theater King Tenka Toitsu Taikai 2015 ~Bay City Royale! in KAAT~" was held at the Kanagawa Arts Theatre, KAAT, where 12 groups selected from all over Japan through preliminary rounds and recommendations competed in a fierce theatrical battle. The judges were a luxurious group of judges, including actor and director LaSalle Ishii and Governor Kuroiwa, who participated in the judging process every day. In the final, the Kyushu region representative "Fushigi Shonen" won the championship after receiving an overwhelming number of audience votes despite a close contest. The final performance, "Scuba," begins with a girl who dreams of becoming a dolphin keeper, and depicts a seascape and the love of the family that surrounds it over various timelines. MACUL.NET was able to talk to the members of "Fushigi Shonen," who won the championship after the final.

2015.5.22 interview＆text:Masamasa Nishino

What is "Theater King"?

The short play contest "Jr. Lightweight Champion Title Match Gekioh" was organized by Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture, and produced by the Tokai branch of the Japan Playwrights Association, and has been nurtured for 10 years since 2003. The winner is decided by votes from the audience and the judges. In February 2013, to commemorate the 10th anniversary, "Gekioh X ~Tenka Toitsu Taikai~" was held, gathering champions from all over the country from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Past Gekiohs also participated in the competition, and a huge showdown unfolded. There, the 4th Gekioh, Yukio Shiba (Mamagoto), won the championship. He won the title of "Gekiten", the man of theater. With this, the event in Nagakute was temporarily suspended, but "Gekioh" has spread to other parts of Japan and is now being held independently. In February 2015, a new unified tournament was held at the Kanagawa Arts Theatre, sponsored by Kanagawa Prefecture, and the winner, Kyushu region representative Osako Akihiro (Fushigi Shonen), won the title of "Gekiryuuou".

Judging after the final round

<Theater King Rules>
○ Performance time within 20 minutes / ○ Three actors or less / ○ Props that can be changed in a few minutes / ○ Basic stage is 4 ken deep x 4 ken deep (flat platform)

<Examination method>
○ Based on votes from the audience and the judges / ○ One audience vote / ○ Judges' votes are calculated by dividing the number of attendees at each performance by the number of judges
Example: If there are 200 attendees and 5 judges, each judge will have 200/5=40 points.

After the final

- Congratulations on winning! I'm sure you must feel great to have received the title of "Drama King" from the production team, Osako-san. Could you tell us your impressions of participating from Kyushu this time?

Osako: We really haven't been out of Kyushu that much... We were confident that we were making something interesting, but we were worried about whether our work would be recognized nationwide. But in a place like "Gekioh" where the most interesting plays from all over the country gather and compete, I'm really happy that we were able to stick to what we thought was interesting and have it recognized. "Gekioh" let me get to know Japan... There are still many things I don't know about it, but I was really happy not only about winning, but also about interacting with people from all over the country by participating.

--Your winning piece, "Scuba," has apparently been performed several times in Kyushu. Could you tell us what inspired you to create this piece and what you think is important about it as a "wonderful boy"?

Photo: From the final performance of Fushigi Shonen's work "Scuba"

Osako: There is a movie called "Big Fish," and the story is about a father who has only a short time left to live telling his son about the story of his life, and that's what made me want to write a story like that. Music also plays an important role in this work, so I listened to the music and solidified the image of the story from there.

Morioka: It seems that he was inspired by movies and had the idea of "writing a story about a family," but the reason he decided on this structure (Geki-oh rules) was that there was a competition in Kyushu previously called "Geki Totsu x 20 minutes" where the right to participate in "Geki-oh" was awarded, and our rival won, which made him jealous, so he thought, "I want to write a piece aimed at Geki-oh too!" and solidified the structure (I heard this directly from Osako) (laughs).

Osako: Ah, that's right. That's true too (laughs).

Morioka: We've been working on this piece for many years, and we felt like we had hit a dead end, so the various comments from the judges were very encouraging, as it made us feel like "we can still do more with this story." We were also really happy that we received so many votes from the audience. The theme of Fushigi Shonen is "laughter, sadness, and rediscovery," and the actors share what Osako rediscovered as a writer, and they build and realize it together with the audience. We were able to make use of those same elements that we always do, so I think that was something that resonated with the audience. Isn't that right? Utsunomiya-san!

Utsunomiya: That's right (laughs).

Morioka: By the way, Utsunomiya-san is a guest performer from another theater company and always appears in "Scuba." Of course, Utsunomiya-san always plays the roles of the father and the sea lion.

Photo: From the final performance of Fushigi Shonen's work "Scuba"

-Finally, as the winners, could you each give us a message about your future aspirations or for future "Gekiou" participants?

Utsunomiya: I've only met Osako-san about two years ago, but I first participated in "Scuba" at "Geki Totsu" held in Kitakyushu a year ago, and have since appeared in other productions. I feel like my acting and way of life match Osako-san's works, and there's a comfortable affinity between us, and I haven't had much trouble rehearsing for Fushigi Shonen. So I'd like to continue working together in the future, and when I return to Kyushu, I'd like to work even harder so that I can perform on a national stage like this one.

Osako: I was working in what are called "regions," and there was a time when I had the image that "Tokyo is a glittering city with a lot of things gathered there." I thought I had to go to Tokyo, Osaka, or Fukuoka to work all the time, but I don't think that's the case at all. I'm sure there are expressions that are born from each place, and I want the people who live there to be proud of them. And I want to strongly say, "See you again with that expression!"

Morioka: This time, I came all the way from Kyushu with a burning fighting spirit, thinking, "I've got 11 rivals," but when I got there, I found that everyone really loves theater, and since they've all been through the local competitions in the same way, I was happy to have made so many allies, rather than just enemies. I think the best part of these contests is being able to experience things like, "It was frustrating, but do your best," or feeling connected even though we're from different places. If there's a theater group out there who's thinking, "I want to participate," I want to say, "Come on!" (laughs). I really hope they'll all get together. We'll definitely meet again someday.

Osako: I think theater is really interesting, so I want to share that with more people. I'll do my best to reach even greater heights as the "Theater King," so please support me!

—Thank you for today! We look forward to your continued success!

After the competition ended, we asked the people involved and the judges for their comments on the competition.