Reimei no Kaze/Passion - A live performance review
REIMEI NO KAZE
I had thought I had a great advantage to appreciate Reimei no Kaze. I am a huge fan of Shirasu Masako, an established author and art critic, and have read a dozen of books written by her and about her. I’ve also read a couple of books written about her husband Jiro, one of which was written by Masako herself. Although I had only limited knowledge about the political events around 1945-1950 Japan, I was glad to see a show that involved the couple I knew about rather well.
So when the show started, I could easily identify what was projected on the screen behind Ishi-chan was Jiro’s final note to his family which said "葬式無用 戒名不用"(No funeral ceremony. No posthumous Buddhist name). I watched on with great interest.
Unfortunately Ishida Masaya’s adaptation of Shirasu Jiro’s life did not appeal to me very much. The main weakness of this show is its script. It tries to be a glorification of Shirasu Jiro’s achievements in establishing the sovereignty of Japan after WWII. The writer/director, however, simply puts in a series of political events Jiro was involved in, but the show fails to explore his insight and contributions in depth. Half of the dialogues are spent on explanatory descriptions of the historical matters. MacArthur is brought in as Jiro’s main opponent, but none of their interactions develops into a powerful or interesting argument. You cannot possibly worship any super-hero without a glimpse of his battle scene. This show, in my opinion, is constantly showing Clark Kent before and after his fight as Superman, not the fight itself. You will hear much praise about him, but you cannot feel his greatness.
For me, this was a disappointing Ishi-chan show. I enjoyed her role in “Takeki Ougon no Kuni ” - another biographical show by Ishida Masaya - much better, though I had no knowledge about Iwasaki Yataro, the model of her character.
The performers given to do the main characters - Ishi-chan as Jiro, Tani as MacArthur, and Yuu-chan as Yoshida - were trying their best and their presence was awesome. Tani’s presentation of MacArthur was really cool and much better than I had expected, though this role had to remain solemn and moody for the most part of the show.
The guys on both sides (Rantomu, Eriko, Chigi as government officials for Japan ; Micchan, Tomochin, Masako as military officers for the US) didn’t get much to do. They looked good in suits and military uniforms but none of them was impressive as a character. The stage mostly moved back and forth between CLO and GHQ, which added to the flatness of the show. Now I have to be really grumpy about Marietta-san’s treatment in this wonderful player’s last show in Takarazuka. It’s a shame.
I was really excited when I heard Ume-chan was going to do Shirasu Masako, who was a slim, tall and handsome woman of extraordinary talent. Alas.
I believe it’s the script-writer’s liberty to transform any historical figures to fit into the world he creates. But honestly I didn’t expect that Ishida-sensei would mold (I’d say “marginalize”) Shirasu Masako, who remains a well-respected cultural icon in Japan 10 years after her death, into a stereotyped characterless good homemaker and such a boring role to do. Real Masako-san was known for her hilariously acid wit and great sense of humor. If Ishida-sensei would have borrowed some punch lines from her, the show must have been more vibrant and entertaining. It’s a pity.
Example :
Reimei Masako says to a young bureaucrat Miyakawa (Chigi) : “Do you plan to go into politics in the future?”
Masako-san’s actual remark on Miyazawa Kiichi, who is the model of Chigi’s role and a favorite of Jiro : “Hmm, Jiro-chan is a real poor judge of talent. Haha!”
Other things to note :
-One and the only impressive dance in the show was Gunjo, a requiem for Kamikaze fighters. The choreography was just awesome.
-Miki-chan got to sing 2 songs “Tokyo Boogie Woogie” & “Ginza Can Can Musume” -the old Japanese pop songs familiar to those who saw Hanagumi’s Asian Winds
-The Tokyo Theater serves a theme dessert of the ongoing show at the 2nd floor cafeteria. For Reimei, they have created something made of green tea and its name is “GHQ”.
PASSION
A Sakai Sumio revue Passion was a nice change from the monotonous world of Reimei where most of the guys were dressed in black/gray/dark blue/khaki. I much welcomed a return of Tani’s sparkling kirakira smile, which she was totally deprived of during the play.
I totally agree with
muffin_song in that Ume-chan’s absence was mostly felt in the revue part, though. I missed her presence and dance throughout the show. Her stand-ins Machami and Kacha, I’m sorry to say, could not fill in the void Ume-chan had left. They did nothing badly, but still neither of them stood out as a lead of the scene they were given to do respectively. I had an impression that those scenes did not develop as much as they were originally intended.
I couldn’t stop loving all the silliness of Burning Rhythm ~ Burning Carnival. Cockscomb hair! Mambo #5! Tani disappeared for a moment and came back in a brilliant red King of Rooster gown (with yellow/orange/bright green frills attached as the lining of its tail, ahahaha)! Wow, she got a glittering sequined band around her cockscomb!!...I realize I’ve started to recognize that sort of crackiness and a crazy mix of colors as Tanigumi’s most powerful weapon. And I seem to enjoy it.
The Ishi-Tani pair dance was not very inspiring to me. Not bad, but a kind of lukewarm. Maybe I had expected too much, hoping it would be something similar to the real hot & wonderfully artistic dance performed by Ishi & Komu in Takarazuka Dream Kingdom.
I was glad to find Marietta-san as a dancer had a lot of stage time. In case you don’t know, she dances so well!
Passion as a whole was fun and enjoyable. The costumes were wonderful. Some of the choreographies, especially of the Arabia scene, were superb (if only they had been performed by the lead musumeyaku dancer…). I liked the theme song very much.
Overall impressions
Of Reimei: Let’s have high hopes for the next show. Keiko-sensei, gambatte~!!
Of Passion: A Tanigumi revue needs Ume-chan. Most definitely.