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Toyooka actor camp

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dates‍

2024/1/8 (Mon) 17:00-19:30 (last day)‍

venues‍

Gangwon Riverside Theater
65-10 Hioki, Hidaka-cho, Toyooka-shi, Hyogo 669-5311

lecturers　Oriza Hirata (playwright, director, youth group leader)

What is the summaryHere

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I arrived at Gangwon station after 15:00. Unfortunately, it was a snowy day, but when I visited the Gangwon Riverside Theater, there was a line at the entrance, and it was a customer who came to see the 3rd performance “Transfer Student” by the “Tajima Children's Theater Company,” which greets Chiakuraku at 15:30. “Transfer Student” is a masterpiece by Oriza Hirata, which premiered in 1994. It seems that it was performed by Seinen Group, Hirata, and Gangwon Riverside Theater, which moved their base to Toyooka City, to make it a new staple program for the “Tajima Children's Theater Company,” which consists of local middle and high school students.

Mr. Hirata is contributing to the community through theater in this way, and the “Toyooka Actor Camp” was being held at the same time as the performance of “Transfer Student.” It is an actor workshop that gathers actors from all over the country and is held during a training camp in Toyooka, and a creative presentation will be held on the last day of the visit.

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At a city facility called Workpia Hidaka, which is right next to the theater, camp participants who were about to make presentations were divided into 3 groups and practiced independently. It is a work where each team creates a 15 minute short film based on the plot, and there is no script, and it is proceeding by means of creating with etude (improvisation). When I asked Mr. Hirata later, he said that the plot itself was also solicited from participants. It was a workshop where each actor who wanted to participate voluntarily volunteered for the three selected by popular vote and practiced in a formed team, and the autonomy of the actors themselves was important.

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The presentation will be held in the studio on the 2nd floor of Gangwon Riverside Theater. The camp participants were replaced by the “Tajima Children's Theater Company,” which had finished the actual performance, and entered the hut 1 hour before the recital. There is no stage or set in particular, and works will be presented using only chairs, desks, etc. that are there. Each team had no regrets in practice until the last minute, and it was seen that they moved and improved repeatedly while keeping the time according to 15 minutes of the performance time. Since it was created with etude, it didn't go quite as expected, and there were also teams that exchanged opinions, such as “they've been saying the same thing all the time and haven't progressed” and “stronger words are necessary for a change of mind to occur.”

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Ten minutes before the performance started, Mr. Ota, the person in charge of production, conveyed the precautions to all participants, and preparations for the presentation began. The rule is that while 1 team is making presentations, the other 2 teams are watching in the audience. Once the previous presentation is over, the arrangement is for the next team to quickly prepare the tools, etc., and begin the presentation.

This recital can now be viewed freely, and about 40 people came to see it, including those who had watched “Transfer Student” until a while ago and those who were involved as staff members. Due to the results of the activities at the Gangwon Riverside Theater, local people are also becoming more interested in theater year by year, and it seems that there were also people who heard that it was a recital for actors active all over the country.

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When it was time for the performance, Mr. Hirata first introduced the purpose of this camp and how it went through to get to where it is today. At the 4 night 5 day camp, it is conveyed to the audience that the actors were thoroughly aware of “creation” and were taking on the challenge. Also, it was explained once again that the work was within 15 minutes, that it was in one act (entry and exit are free, there is one space), etc., and that participants were asked to write a plot consisting of “location, background, and problems,” and that each team finished the 3 films selected from among them into the work with etudes.

Each team presented a very interesting work within 15 minutes, and the presentation had a high degree of perfection, which caused laughter from the audience seats.

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When it's over, Mr. Hirata comes forward again and gives feedback to each team. It's a work I made in a short time, so of course I don't want many of them, but when I say all of the comments, such as “there wasn't enough explanation of the role in the first half,” “the punch line is steep,” and “it's a waste even though there were lines I could pick up,” all of them said, “Certainly!” It was all about content that made me feel like it. Once the comments are over, it's time to solicit questions and feedback from the audience. A few people raised their hands, and positive comments and sharp questions came up.

What was particularly interesting was “Why did you focus on 'creation' even though it was an 'actor' camp?” That's the question. I think this was probably something that many of the people who came to see it felt. It seems that it was explained to the participants at the beginning, but Mr. Hirata gave an easy-to-understand explanation to the audience about this question. That was closely related to what Mr. Hirata felt was lacking in the Japanese theater world, and the points that should be strengthened in the future.
“Japanese actors are weak in their ability to 'create', then they will inevitably be unable to talk about 'creation' at the same level as writers and directors. This creates a hierarchical relationship and is a hotbed of harassment.” “By developing the power of 'creation', actors can understand the plot, notice the shortcomings of the play, and participate in improving the level of the work. The very important theme of “This will eventually lead to harassment prevention” was inherent in this workshop.

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The sentence “taken for granted overseas” often comes up in Mr. Hirata's stories, but it seemed like they wanted to gradually incorporate Western systems, which are advanced countries in theater, into Japan. This “camp” is one of them, and it seems that intensive implementation in a training camp style will also increase the effectiveness of workshops, so it is commonplace overseas. They told me that there are budget issues in Japan, so it's not easy to get established.

The idea itself that “the power of 'creation' is necessary in order to improve the level of an actor” actually doesn't seem to have penetrated much in the Japanese theater world. Through Mr. Hirata's talk, I was reminded once again of the significance of this camp. I wanted to spread the word about this camp so that this kind of project would become established in Japan, including the way of thinking.

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Report: Fukunaga Mitsuhiro