Hyakunin Gekijo (One Hundred Person Theater) Series / ACM Theatre, ART TOWER MITO

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Hyakunin Gekijo (One Hundred Person Theater) Series

**Photos: Jun Tazawa**

The ACM Theatre, normally having a capacity of 636, will be sectioned off to create a new space seating only one hundred people. That will bring the members of the audience even closer to the stage, bringing the two together in an intimate fashion. Dance, song, and modern theater will be presented in this extravagant program.

Hyakunin Gekijo Series #4
Mokutosha Performance, "Gikyoku Boken Shosetsu (Drama Adventure Novel)"

Written by Kunio Shimizu / Directed by Kunio Shimizu and Noriko Matsumoto
Performers: Satomi Kuroki, Keiichi Yoshida, Kayo Echizen-ya, Yoshizumi Fukano, et al.
January 18 (Tue) to 23 (Sun), 25(Tue) to 30 (Sun), 2000
Tue-Sat 7:00 p.m. / Sun 4:00 p.m.
ACM Theatre
General ¥3,000 / Groups ¥2,700 / Students ¥1,500 (Free seating)

The scene is a town on the coast of the Sea of Japan. A man lives with his psychologically unstable wife, and two children. The last wish of his wife, who says she will "die in half a year," is to finish the biography of the "great man" who was her former husband. The man initiates his adventure so that the biography can be finished, and for the sake of his wife. What kind of adventure does he go on? Kunio Shimizu, who won the Geijutsu Sensho New Artist Prize for this work, has been active not only as a playwright but as a writer in the fields of radio and novels.

He has created many works in conjunction with a wide range of producers. He has especially worked closely with Yukio Ninagawa, who produced Shimizu's dramatization of the "Complete Collection of Showa Era Songs," originally written by Ryu Murakami.

He now leads the Mokutosha, and is himself engaged in production. This is the first Mito performance of this work, written and produced by Kunio Shimizu.

Hyakunin Gekijo Series #3

"Little Match Girl"
Written by Minoru Betsuyaku / Directed by Hirohisa Hasegawa
Performers: Ryo Shiotani, Shinro Sato, Shin Koyasu, Satoshi Natori (ACM, Acting Company Mito)
November 10 (Wed) 7:00 p.m., 11 (Thu) 7:00 p.m., 12 (Fri) 7:00 p.m., 13 (Sat) 2:00/7:00 p.m., 14 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
ACM Theatre
¥2,000 (Free seating)

"Shin Tokyo Rose"
Written by Hirohisa Hasegawa / Directed by Koshiro Matsumoto
Performers: 22 Audition winners
November 19/26(Fri) 7:00 p.m., 20/27(Sat) 7:00 p.m., 21/28(Sun) 4:00 p.m.
ACM Theatre
¥2,000 (Free seating)

Hyakunin Gekijo Series #2

"Ima wa Mukashi, Eiyo Eigakan" ("Now as Always, the Cinema Nurtures Us")
"Tokyo Monogatari" ("Tokyo Story")

As the two titles above suggest, the latest installment in the Hyakunin Gekijo Series features performances of two works by Juichiro Takeuchi that have something to do with movies.

The title of the first play, "Ima wa Mukashi, Eiyo Eigakan" ("Now as Always, the Cinema Nurtures Us"), refers to how the love of the cinema and the inspiration provided by it both serve as supports for the creative process. Takeuchi gives a slapstick touch to the work of a self-described "director" and his so-called "assistant director" as they hurry around getting ready for a trial showing of a debut film. The audience hears a famous speech by Alfred Hitchcock in the midst of the clamor. As the two men divvy up the seats for an audience -- one that might not even come -- they seem to be patiently waiting for "something."

The next play, "Tokyo Monogatari," takes its name after Yasujiro Ozu's movie of the same title (in English, "Tokyo Story"). As the play begins, one can hear the sound track from that film. The cast consists of two men who are stuck in a jail and now have resolved to escape. During the process, one of the men relates his own "Tokyo Story" to the other. What for?

10 (Thu) 7:00 p.m. / 11 (Fri) 7:00 p.m. / 12 (Sat) 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. / 13 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
ACM Hyaku-nin Gekijo Series #2 "Ima wa Mukashi, Eiyo Eigakan" ("Now as Always, the Cinema Nurtures Us")
Written by Juichiro Takeuchi / Directed by Koshiro Matsumoto
¥2,000 Free seating. Tickets now on sale.

17 (Thu) 7:00 p.m. / 18 (Fri) 7:00 p.m. / 19 (Sat) 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. / 20 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
ACM Hyaku-nin Gekijo Series #2 "Tokyo Mono-gatari" ("Tokyo Story")
Written by Juichiro Takeuchi / Directed by Hirohisa Hasegawa
¥2,000 Free seating. Tickets now on sale.
Both of Takeuchi's plays portray the everlasting dreams of the Japanese people, fascinated as they are with movies and the fantasies they inspire. We are sure you will enjoy them.

Hyakunin Gekijo Series #1

"KAMOME" (based on Chekhov's "The Seagull")

**Photo: T. Aoki**

April 7 (Wed) through April 9 (Fri) 7:00 p.m.
April 10 (Sat) 4:00 p.m.
ACM Theatre
All seats ¥5,000.
Sold out, Thank you.

Original work: Anton Chekhov
Transcription: Yushi Odashima
Director: Yukio Ninagawa
Actors: Mieko Harada, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Yuko Miyamoto, Hiroshi Takahashi, et al.

**Photo: T. Aoki**

Chekhov's "The Seagull" starts off in the lakeside country estate of the Sorin family. A play is about to begin on a temporary stage built inside the house. The author of the play is the aspiring playwright Treplev, the son of the actress Arkadina. The woman playing the main role in the play is Treplev’s sweetheart, Nina, who is the daughter of the estate’s landlord. Nina dreams of becoming an actress, and develops an infatuation for the famous novelist Trigorin, who happens to be Arkadina’s lover. Nina throws everything away to be with Trigorin and start her new life as an actress. However, he ends up dumping her, and to make matters worse, the child they had together dies on her. Two years later, she returns nostalgically to the lakeside home of her memories, having been scarred both emotionally and physically.

With its cozy 100-seat ("hyaku-nin") arrangement, the ACM Theatre is the perfect setting for the overpowering drama of Chekhov’s forceful work.

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