Yanagi Stage Report - Apocalypsis of Redon
I attended the first performance of Yanagi's new stage, "Apocalypsis of Redon" on Wednesday night in Tokyo. The stage was presented at the New National Theatre at Hatsudai. That's a prestigious venue, and the National Opera is located in the same complex.
I'm going to word this review fairly carefully so it doesn't have too many spoilers above the cut for those who want to see the DVD later on without knowing too much about the plot. Anyone clicking on the cut does so at their own risk for spoilers for plot, themes and performance!
This is a serious play. It's not Prince of Tennis. It's a drama with a complex storyline and challenging themes. Despite my very limited Japanese, I could follow it easily.
It's one of the best productions I've seen. I've seen some very good theatre, including the Royal Shakespeare Company in their home theatre, operas by several national companies and dramas all over the world. This was well up there. The cast is generally a young cast and acting was to a very high standard, both technically and emotionally. The production was tightly paced and there were no 'dead' moments of stage time. The space was used very well, with the overall focus on the central stage and the aisles being used to extend the production space as necessary. Props were kept to a minimum and were again used very effectively. There was some live music at the opening and during the play and it was very effective, both as a focus and as the basis for scene support.
Cut for discussion of the plot. The play deals with the themes of mental illness, conflict and violence in a period of war and disaster. The play centres around four groups and how they interact and impact upon the values and actions of each other. They were differentiated by costume and attitude. The play opens with the calico group; they're fundamentally innocent and encouraging, sharing their resources and having a positive attitude towards their problems. Then there is the khaki group, fundamentally a group of soldiers with a protectionist attitude towards their country. The hospital group was comprised of staff and a few patients, of whom Yanagi was one. Finally, there's the red group and they were impulsive, irrational and embraced violence.
Yanagi shared lead actor status with three other performers. His performance was excellent. Yes, he was just as gorgeous as ever! His character is introduced early in the play; he's a soldier from the khaki group who's been injured. He's withdrawn and sullen, refusing to participate in the treatment the doctors are recommending in any except the most passive ways.
As I said, the play deals with the themes of mental illness, conflict and violence. How people resolve their conflicts and the spiralling effect when violence is embraced as both a practice and solution in and of itself was fundamental throughout the production. The role of redemptive love and sacrifice were also vital throughout the play. The play tells the story of the impact upon these four groups and how their attitudes change as they are forced into situations created by others. The red group are the dominant action drivers; they're going to have what they want any way they can get it and that includes taking it by force. I was particularly struck by the acting of some of this group; two young soldier men in particular were really effective about displaying 'the madness within' that occurs when violence becomes an end in itself. They really projected an unholy joy in battle and death and I found that shocking and confronting. The members of the khaki group attempt to negotiate with the red group; to me, they appeared to be trying to contain them, and were as successful as appeasement policies generally are; that is to say, not at all. The khaki group becomes caught up in the violence and ultimately abandon their protectionist attitudes, to their own destruction. The calico group also become caught up in the apocalyptic descent into violence and are decimated in the process. They ultimately reject violence as a solution but it comes at a very high price and they lose their innocence and much of their joy throughout the stage. For the hospital group, it appeared that the attitude changes and character development were minimal. Change in that group occured within the patients rather than the staff, as Yanagi slowly begins to engage with others, particularly with one girl. The lighting was used really effectively to create a 'cell' atmosphere for the actress playing Yanagi's mother and they were finally able to reach out to each other. The romantic relationships within the play are used to show how the characters become willing to sacrifice and act for each other; the primary romances occur between the leader of the calico group and the soldier who becomes the leader of the khaki group.
There's a lot of violence and death within this play. It's shocking and disturbing and entirely plot driven; the excessive violence of the red group forces the others into action. None of it felt gratuitous or unnecessary and the staging of it was excellent. The fight scenes were beautifully lit and focussed. Emotionally, the play was wrenching. The characters were interesting and engaging; to see them fall into disaster became a hurtful experience. The play's pacifist message was clear and strong.
The play was brilliant, and well worth the airfare! I'm very glad I went. I've ordered the dvd and I'll rip and upload it when it arrives. It's certainly worth watching. I'm going to go back and watch it again when I have some Japanese fluency as I'm sure I missed a massive amount of nuance.
After the stage, I met up with a couple of girls who'd also been at the Tadashii Ouji event I attended. They remembered me and we waited together for the cast to come out. Our broken conversation included us agreeing that Yanagi was very kawaii, that I was a stalker and that the play had been sugoi. ^_^ When we'd worked out that the cast was exiting through the stage door, the girls were very encouraging, waving their hands at me and calling, "Go, stalker, go!" to my great amusement. I spoke to Yanagi; he was clearly very tired but pumped. I congratulated him on the production and he thanked me. Mobility wise, he's staggering but moving okay and he went up the stairs to main street exit without any problem.
Well worth the trip!
Edited to add:
Please do read the comments, particularly this one by _miyuchan. She adds so much more to it and identifies an entire layer that I missed!
I'm going to word this review fairly carefully so it doesn't have too many spoilers above the cut for those who want to see the DVD later on without knowing too much about the plot. Anyone clicking on the cut does so at their own risk for spoilers for plot, themes and performance!
This is a serious play. It's not Prince of Tennis. It's a drama with a complex storyline and challenging themes. Despite my very limited Japanese, I could follow it easily.
It's one of the best productions I've seen. I've seen some very good theatre, including the Royal Shakespeare Company in their home theatre, operas by several national companies and dramas all over the world. This was well up there. The cast is generally a young cast and acting was to a very high standard, both technically and emotionally. The production was tightly paced and there were no 'dead' moments of stage time. The space was used very well, with the overall focus on the central stage and the aisles being used to extend the production space as necessary. Props were kept to a minimum and were again used very effectively. There was some live music at the opening and during the play and it was very effective, both as a focus and as the basis for scene support.
Cut for discussion of the plot. The play deals with the themes of mental illness, conflict and violence in a period of war and disaster. The play centres around four groups and how they interact and impact upon the values and actions of each other. They were differentiated by costume and attitude. The play opens with the calico group; they're fundamentally innocent and encouraging, sharing their resources and having a positive attitude towards their problems. Then there is the khaki group, fundamentally a group of soldiers with a protectionist attitude towards their country. The hospital group was comprised of staff and a few patients, of whom Yanagi was one. Finally, there's the red group and they were impulsive, irrational and embraced violence.
Yanagi shared lead actor status with three other performers. His performance was excellent. Yes, he was just as gorgeous as ever! His character is introduced early in the play; he's a soldier from the khaki group who's been injured. He's withdrawn and sullen, refusing to participate in the treatment the doctors are recommending in any except the most passive ways.
As I said, the play deals with the themes of mental illness, conflict and violence. How people resolve their conflicts and the spiralling effect when violence is embraced as both a practice and solution in and of itself was fundamental throughout the production. The role of redemptive love and sacrifice were also vital throughout the play. The play tells the story of the impact upon these four groups and how their attitudes change as they are forced into situations created by others. The red group are the dominant action drivers; they're going to have what they want any way they can get it and that includes taking it by force. I was particularly struck by the acting of some of this group; two young soldier men in particular were really effective about displaying 'the madness within' that occurs when violence becomes an end in itself. They really projected an unholy joy in battle and death and I found that shocking and confronting. The members of the khaki group attempt to negotiate with the red group; to me, they appeared to be trying to contain them, and were as successful as appeasement policies generally are; that is to say, not at all. The khaki group becomes caught up in the violence and ultimately abandon their protectionist attitudes, to their own destruction. The calico group also become caught up in the apocalyptic descent into violence and are decimated in the process. They ultimately reject violence as a solution but it comes at a very high price and they lose their innocence and much of their joy throughout the stage. For the hospital group, it appeared that the attitude changes and character development were minimal. Change in that group occured within the patients rather than the staff, as Yanagi slowly begins to engage with others, particularly with one girl. The lighting was used really effectively to create a 'cell' atmosphere for the actress playing Yanagi's mother and they were finally able to reach out to each other. The romantic relationships within the play are used to show how the characters become willing to sacrifice and act for each other; the primary romances occur between the leader of the calico group and the soldier who becomes the leader of the khaki group.
There's a lot of violence and death within this play. It's shocking and disturbing and entirely plot driven; the excessive violence of the red group forces the others into action. None of it felt gratuitous or unnecessary and the staging of it was excellent. The fight scenes were beautifully lit and focussed. Emotionally, the play was wrenching. The characters were interesting and engaging; to see them fall into disaster became a hurtful experience. The play's pacifist message was clear and strong.
The play was brilliant, and well worth the airfare! I'm very glad I went. I've ordered the dvd and I'll rip and upload it when it arrives. It's certainly worth watching. I'm going to go back and watch it again when I have some Japanese fluency as I'm sure I missed a massive amount of nuance.
After the stage, I met up with a couple of girls who'd also been at the Tadashii Ouji event I attended. They remembered me and we waited together for the cast to come out. Our broken conversation included us agreeing that Yanagi was very kawaii, that I was a stalker and that the play had been sugoi. ^_^ When we'd worked out that the cast was exiting through the stage door, the girls were very encouraging, waving their hands at me and calling, "Go, stalker, go!" to my great amusement. I spoke to Yanagi; he was clearly very tired but pumped. I congratulated him on the production and he thanked me. Mobility wise, he's staggering but moving okay and he went up the stairs to main street exit without any problem.
Well worth the trip!
Edited to add:
Please do read the comments, particularly this one by _miyuchan. She adds so much more to it and identifies an entire layer that I missed!