Acting Company Mito (ACM)

Past Performances of ACM

New Year Performance '96 "The Feudal Lord in Mito vs. Pirandello Luigi"	Henry IV Photo: Tsuyoshi SAITO

Date	Name of Performance	Author	Director
April 1990	Dionysus	Euripidesz	Tadashi SUZUKI
January 1991	Macbeth	William Shakespeare	Tadashi SUZUKI
March 1991	Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll	Leon Ingulsrud
October 1991	Betsuyaku Minoru Sakuhinshu (Works by Minoru Betsuyaku)	Minoru BETSUYAKU	Uichiro FUEDA
January 1992	Ivanov	Anton Chekhov	Tadashi SUZUKI
January 1992	Dionysus	Euripides	Tadashi SUZUKI
March 1992	Ponkotsu-sha no Hakaba (The Car Cemetery)	Fernando Arrabal	Uichiro FUEDA
March 1992	Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard	Anton Chekhov	Masaharu KATO
May 1992	"K" no Monogatari (Nine Stories of Clowns Named "K")	Peter Handke	Lech J. Mackiewicz
October 1992	Kasama Kinjiro Jiken-cho (Kinjiro Kasama's Detective Note - An Exorcist Case)	Hirohisa HASEGAWA	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
October 1992	Henry IV	Luigi Pirandello	Masaharu KATO
January 1993	Sansho-Dayu	Hirohisa HASEGAWA	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
April 1993	A Doll's House	Henrik Ibsen	Masaharu KATO
May 1993	Jiken - Hyoketsusha-tachi(Twelve Jury Members)	Reginald Rhodes	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
October 1993	Kami-kakete Sango Taisetsu (Sangoro's Tragic Devotion to His Master)	Tsuruya Nanboku	Shuji Ishizawa
November 1993	Ashes and Bacteria	Hirohisa HASEGAWA / Yoshinori HIRATSUKA
January 1994	Kagekiyo(Tragic Story of Surviving General from Heike-monogatari, Japanese medieval war chronicle)	Hirohisa HASEGAWA	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
January 1994	Juliet	William Shakespeare	Tadashi SUZUKI
March 1994	The Mini Theatre	Yukio Mishima and others	ACM Theatre
April 1994	The Glass Menagerie	Tennessee Williams	Tom Blair
October 1994	Koi Suru Ninpu (A Pregnant Woman in Love)	Ryo IWAMATSU	Ryo IWAMATSU
January 1995	Ako Roshi(Lordless Samurai of Ako)	Hirohisa HASEGAWA	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
March 1995	Series of Japanese Authors 1 - John Silver	Juro KARA	Hirohisa HASEGAWA
	Bokura ga Hijo no Taiga o Kudaru Toki (When We Travel Down a Cruel River)	Kunio SHIMIZU	Akira YAMAZAKI
October 1995	Satyam	Akira YAMAZAKI	Akira YAMAZAKI
January 1996	The Feudal Lord in Mito vs. Pirandello	Luigi Pirandello	Masaharu KATO / Hirohisa HASEGAWA
January 1996	Electra	Sophocles / Hofmannsthal	Tadashi SUZUKI / Satoshi MIYAGI
March 1996	Series of Japanese Authors 2 - Ano Ogarasu Saemo(Even the Raven)	Juichiro TAKEUCHI	Akira YAMAZAKI
	Papa wa Yukai-han (Daddy is a Kidnapper)	Akira YAMAZAKI	Juichiro TAKEUCHI

SERIES OF NEW WORKS FOR ACTING COMPANY MITO (ACM)

The Acting Company Mito (ACM) performs new works by dramatists from Japan and around the world. In 1994, the first year of the series, the troupe performed Koi-suru Ninpu ("A Pregnant Woman in Love"), written and directed by Ryo IWAMATSU. The following year, it performed "Satyam", written and directed by Akira YAMAZAKI. In October 1996, the ACM plans to perform Juichiro TAKEUCHI's Hikari to, Soshite Ikutsuka no Mono, inspired by Paul Klee's Das Licht und Etliches ("Light and Something Else"). Mr. TAKEUCHI will produce the play.

After three years of performing Japanese plays exclusively, the members of ACM are looking forward to performing new works by foreign dramatists in 1997 and later.

SERIES OF JAPANESE AUTHORS

In March 1995, marking the 5th anniversary of the opening of Art Tower Mito (ATM), the Series of Modern Japanese Authors was begun. The "small theater performance" movement, which began in the late 1960s and ushered in the era of modern Japanese drama, had a great impact on society by traversing various modern artistic genres. Three decades have since elapsed, and modern drama is once again having the same sort of social and artistic influence. It behooves us to reexamine the "small theater performance" movement from several angles, asking what it was and what it can be. The "Series of Japanese Authors" program at ACM was initiated to answer these questions. In March 1995, the first installment of the series included performances of "John Silver," written by Juro KARA in 1965, "Bokura ga Hijo no Taiga o Kudaru Toki (When We Travel Down a Cruel River)," written by Kunio SHIMIZU in 1972, and "Nemutcha Ikenai Komori-Uta (Lullaby for Staying Up)," written by Minoru BETSUYAKU in 1984. In March 1996, two performances were made in the series: "Ano Ogarasu Saemo (Even the Raven)," written by Juichiro TAKEUCHI in 1980, and "Papa wa Yukai-han (Daddy is a Kidnapper)," written by Akira YAMAZAKI in 1988.
The third installment of the series will take place next autumn (1997), and will be entitled "Shuji TERAYAMA Festival." The festival will focus on the works and milieu of Mr. TERAYAMA, a standard-bearer of the small-theater performance movement. Several of his works will be performed on stage and presented as movies. In addition, a symposium will be held, and an exhibition made of related posters and objets d'art.
	The Series of Japanese Authors "John Silver" Photo: Masaru MIYAUCHI

Three local dramatic troupes from the Mito area are invited to perform new works at this festival. The fourth Theatre Festival will be held in February 1997. Besides the Mito Gendai Engeki Kenkyujo (Mito Modern Performance Laboratory) and the Mito Kodomo no Gekidan (Mito Children's Troupe), the festival will feature a performance by the "IQ150" acting company from Sendai (the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, just north of Mito). In the future, other regional dramatic companies will also be invited, with the aim of developing interregional relationships between Mito and surrounding prefectures..

Every summer, the Mito Yagai-geki (Mito Outdoor Theater) takes place in the plaza at the Art Tower Mito (ATM). The past summer (1996) marked the seventh year such an event has been held. Participants include Mito residents of all ages - from elementary school students to adults - who put on a single play after rehearsing for about three months. This year's performance at the Mito Yagai-geki was Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" recast in a high-school setting. It was produced by the Gekidan Yamanote Jijosha (Acting Company Yamanote Jijo), led by Mr. Masahiro YASUDA.

Past Performances of Mito Yagai-Geki

1: 1990 Chihaya Monogatari ("Story of Chihaya")

Written and directed by Mito Yagai-Geki Production Committee

2: 1991 Saigo no Kokuo ("The Last Shogun/King")

Written and directed by '91 Mito Yagai-Geki Production Committee

3: 1992 Mito 1865

Written and directed by '92 Mito Yagai-Geki Production Committee

4: 1993 Midsummer Night's Dream

Original Author: William Shakespeare

Directed by Mito Yagai-Geki Production Committee

5: 1994 Midsummer Night's Dream

Original Author: William Shakespeare

Directed by Mito Yagai-Geki Production Committee

6: 1995 Romeo and Juliet ("Love is the Only Way - a Life-or-Death Sport")

Original Author: William Shakespeare

Directed by Masahiro YASUDA

7: 1996 Twelfth Night ("Impatient Love $BM
(JWe Protest Sexual Discrimination!")

Original Author: William Shakespeare

Directed by Masahiro YASUDA

The Mito Children Theatre Academy is a short-term "drama school" for 4th to 8th grade students living in Mito. The children enter the academy in June and "graduate" in August after having put on a performance. At the academy, they learn the basics of drama and variations on the subject from top-flight instructors.

In 1995, the first year of the academy, the dramatist and producer Mr. Yorozu IKUTA served as the teacher. The students that year performed Nijisseiki no Natsu-yasumi (Summer Vacation of the 20th Century), written and directed by Mr. IKUTA. In 1996, the second term of the academy welcomed Mr. Hirohisa HASEGAWA as the instructor. Mr. HASEGAWA, the director of ACM (Acting Company Mito), is well known for producing many enthusiastic plays. The play performed by the children in summer 1996 was Ano Koro, Mori de Senso ga Atta ("A War Broke Out in the Woods Those Days"), which Mr. HASEGAWA wrote, developed and produced.

The Mito Citizens Theatre Academy is an offshoot of the Mito Yagai-Geki (Mito Outdoor Theater), having started this fall (1996). Whereas the Mito Children Theatre Academy is aimed at children, this academy "enrolls" grownups - including university students and people with regular jobs - who love drama. It also trains people who have had some experience acting locally. The term of the school extends from October to March the following year, when a "graduation" performance is held. The curriculum of the academy aims to train actors, playwrights, producers, art and costume designers, and lighting and sound engineers.

This series is composed of three different projects: Koten Rakugo no Yuube ("An Evening of Classical Rakugo"), Nomura Mansaku Sho ("Kyogen Performances by Mansaku NOMURA"), and performance-lectures on Noh. These will each be described below.

Koten Rakugo no Yuube ("An Evening of Classical Rakugo") features performances of humorous and warmhearted classical rakugo (comedic monologue), with the critic, Mr. Seiichi YANO, serving as chaperone. Well-known rakugoka (rakugo storytellers) are invited from both the Kansai (Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe) and Kanto (Tokyo/Yokohama) regions - called the "Kamigata" and "Edo" styles after the older names of those districts. The attempt is to demonstrate and elucidate the art of storytelling, the foundation of drama. The two rakugoka invited to Mito in 1996 were Mr. Beicho KATSURA and Mr. Kosanji YANAGIYA.

Nomura Mansaku Sho ("Kyogen Performances by Mansaku NOMURA") was presented for the fourth time in 1996. It features enchanting performances by the kyogen (comic Noh) artist Mr. Mansaku NOMURA, perhaps representative of modern kyogen. He performed Utsubo-zaru ("Quiver Monkey") this year, a story of a daimyo (feudal lord) who desired to use the skin of the monkey - belonging to a monkey showman - as a quiver to hold his arrows. The monkey showman naturally protested, and the enraged daimyo tried to kill the monkey, but was mollified when the unknowing monkey performed its act. In 1997, another prime example of kyogen will be performed.

The performance-lectures on Noh are given each year by the soke (head) of one of the four major schools of Noh: Kanze, Kita, Konparu, and Hosho. The distinctive styles of each school are explained as they are performed, deepening the audience's understanding of Noh. In 1996, the head of the Konparu School of Noh, Mr. Nobutaka KONPARU, performed a new Noh play written in the old style, entitled "Sado," which debuted at the National Noh Theater on December 4, 1990. Mr. KONPARU also demonstrated how to put on a Noh costume. The 1997 performance-lecture on Noh appreciation is scheduled to feature Mr. Rokuheita KITA, the head of the Kita School.