By Erika Noguchi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff WriterA mermaid holds the key in “Gekirin,” a new play written and directed by Hideki Noda.
The production by the NODA MAP theater company is currently running at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Toshima Ward, Tokyo.
Noda, who presides over the company, brought a fresh breeze into the Japanese theater scene in the 1980s as a “guru of the ‘new people.’” The director-playwright, who turned 60 last year, has cut into contemporary society through the ample use of expressive wordplay and metaphors.
His new play goes back and forth between an aquarium, which is trying to secure mermaids for its mermaid show, and the world of mermaids on the bottom of the sea. The story eventually develops into an unexpected conclusion.
- The Yomiuri ShimbunHideki Noda speaks in an interview.
“I wanted to depict an aquarium from the start [in writing this play],” Noda said. “When Japanese people go to an aquarium, the first thing they do is to check the time of the dolphin show and put it into their schedule. It’s very Japanese to go to a popular event.”
Mythically, gekirin is an upside-down piece of scale on a dragon’s throat. Touching gekirin is supposed to provoke the ire of a dragon, hence the expression “gekirin ni fureru” (touching gekirin), which means ruffling the feathers of an older person or a superior. What does the title of the play mean? There is a hidden theme in the play, and the character who holds the key to the theme is a mermaid played by Takako Matsu.
“The Disney film [‘The Little Mermaid,’ 1989] gave mermaids a happy image. But originally, they were ominous beings who brought bad omens,” Noda said.
Matsu is appearing in a NODA MAP production for the first time in seven years.
“She has the rare ability of conveying the words in the script clearly and assuredly,” Noda said.
The star-studded cast also includes Sadawo Abe, Eita and Mao Inoue, who all continuously move around and even swim on stage. Noda has been particular about how to represent the aquarium and the sea.
“Theater to me is about how to portray the unreal,” he said. “There’s no way I would go for a lame option like using water.”
Noda started his theatrical career in student theater. In the 1980s, Yume no Yuminsha, a theatrical company he led, swept the Japanese theater scene. With original scripts inspired by classical literature and other sources and bold productions with performers moving in all directions on stage, the company distinguished itself from other companies, which emphasized their political colors and underground nature. The company became an instant legend in 1986 when it drew 26,400 people to Tokyo’s Yoyogi No. 1 Gym in just one day.
However, Noda disbanded the company in 1992.
“I had doubts as I felt people were coming to see our productions only because the company was popular,” he said. The following year, he launched NODA MAP, for which a different cast is gathered for each production.
While Noda insists that his stance toward creative activities has not changed as he has grown older, he has assumed more positions with responsibilities in recent years. On top of being the artistic director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, he is now a professor of the Tama Art University and a supervisor of cultural activities by the Tokyo metropolitan government in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“I guess that’s because I’ve reached a certain age,” he said.
Among the pre-Tokyo Games projects is “Tokyo Caravan” advocated by Noda. A workshop for the multi-genre project was shown to the public in October. With “interaction” as the subject theme, the workshop featured collaborations between a robot and noh theater and between violins and shamisen three-stringed instruments.
“It’s a cultural circus even grownups can enjoy,” Noda said. “Traditional performing arts can be really interesting depending on how you show them.”
Commenting on the fact that he has become busier, the director said, “I have to be careful not to distance myself from theater by taking on too many other responsibilities.”
With his creative drive brimming, he has already begun making plans for a new theater production for next year.
Performances of “Gekirin” continue through March 13 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. No performance on Mondays. The production will move to Theater Brava! in Osaka from March 18 to 27 (no performance on March 22) and to Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center in Kitakyushu from March 31 to April 3. Please visit www.nodamap.com/gekirin/ for more information.
not mine.credit and source: JAPAN NEWS
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