Workshop to decipher “plays”
Read Mishima Yukio's “Rokumeikan”!‍

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dates‍

2023/12/7 (Thu) 18:00-20:30 Middle Music Room (Day 1)

venues‍

JMS Aster Plaza
4-17 Kako-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 730-0812

lecturers‍

・Satoshi Maruo (Office Project M)
・Kawaguchi Norinari (Donalka Packard)
・Minori Ebana (fictional tatami mat)

What is the summaryHere

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Chairs were arranged in a room at Aster Plaza, a cultural facility representing Hiroshima City, and welcomed slightly more participants than the capacity initially set, and the workshop began.

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The participants gathered were of different age groups, but it seemed that there were also familiar people, and I felt excited even before the start. Several types of materials are distributed at the reception desk, and “harassment prevention guidelines” are also included, and common rules are presented so that participants can participate safely. Iwasaki Kie and his colleagues from “Performing Arts Studio Colorless and Transparent,” which is a Hiroshima organization, were involved in the local production, and they carried out the entire workshop.

First, Maruo introduces himself and talks about the concept of this project. “What does it mean to decipher a 'play'?” It's about. It's a “play” with an image that is inevitably difficult, but in fact, it's very interesting literature, and they explained that so-called “interpretations” can only be made by the number of people, and that it is interesting because there are so many different things.

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Not limited to Yukio Mishima, who is being taken up as the theme this time, modern writers all write “plays,” and they shared basic information about the play and the points of this project, such as the fact that it used to be so popular and basic, and since it is mainly composed of “lines,” there is plenty of room for interpretation, and speaking at this workshop, it is a good opportunity to listen to 23 people's interpretations.

Next, I asked the participants to introduce themselves, and once again, I can see that there are really many different people participating. Not only those with theater experience, but also those who specialize in watching, those who are also film directors, and even those who are researching Yukio Mishima. There are many theater companies in Hiroshima, and I also understood very well that they are active.

On this day, which was the first day of the 4-day workshop, we will start by reading the first act part out of all four acts. From here on, Kawaguchi-san proceeded, and the reading was based on the rule of “each person reads one page at a time regardless of the amount of dialogue.” As I heard later, when one person plays one role, the approach to the role becomes stronger, and understanding the overall structure of the play tends to be put on the back burner. This was an opportunity to learn about the “play” itself, so I decided that I wanted to put aside empathy for the role and focus on how the first act was structured.

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After reading one act at a time, the whole thing is divided into 3 groups, and each takes time to discuss their impressions and questions. There were many ways to proceed for each group, but “What is your favorite line?” “What scene did you not understand?” From rudimentary points, etc., there were also places where discussions went quite deep, such as “the status system of this era is involved” and “disdain for women can be felt.”

What was interesting was, “Since it's Meiji literature, words and cultures I just don't understand come up. If you don't understand that kind of thing, you won't be able to correctly interpret the play, right?” Maruo's answer to that opinion. Of course, there is such an aspect, but if you read it carefully, parts that can be understood regardless of the era or country will come out. On the other hand, since it is a work that has that kind of part, it has been performed even today, and I was talking about it being popular. This applies not only to modern Japanese literature, but also to Western classics such as Shakespeare, so I felt that it was an important point of view when reading plays.

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After the discussion, there was a presentation on what opinions each group gave from 1 representative. After reading the same play, it was a very interesting presentation with three perspectives.

Since it was the first day, I didn't dive further from there, but participants were given a point of view that would serve as a hint, and it was a time to look back where expectations for the next day and beyond greatly increased. At the end of the first act of “Rokumeikan,” a shocking fact was discovered due to the lines of “Hisao,” and the curtain came to an end, but I felt like it was linked to the workshop on this day.
It was the last scene on the first day where I felt that the 4-day workshop would be a meaningful time until the end.

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Report: Fukunaga Mitsuhiro

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