Daily report 15 / 21 January 2011

The last rehearsal has a long schedule. We work from 1.00 pm till 9.30 pm. When Mihoko, Fumio, Michiko and I arrive the actors already started to train their choreographies. The stage manager marks with tape the stage floor and entrances.

There is an atmosphere of excitement. The coming performance brings a new energy.

Mihoko tells me the story of Ushiwaka-maru, the main character of the performance. She cannot tell all of it because she is needed in the rehearsal. I recall what she told me:

Ushiwaka-maru is a famous warrior and lived in the late Heian period from 1159 till 1189. His father, Yoshimoto, died in the great Heiji War. Tokiwa, his mother, had to flee with her three children. Ushiwaka-maru was the youngest and just born. When Ushiwaka-maru was seven years old, he was placed in the care of the temple Kuramadera in Kyoto. Here he studies hard and secretly practices martial arts every night. The Tengu of Mount Kuruma trains him and he becomes a very good warrior. Later he will encounter Musashi-bo-Benkei on Kyoto's Gojo Bridge. Together they will ride into war to vanish the Heike, who defeated his father.

The performance of O-Getsu Ryu continues the story in which Ushiwaka-maru joins his elder brother in war. He is favored by the Emperor and given his name Yoshimoto. A conspiracy leads to distrust between the two brothers. Here Mihoko could not finish the story. In the rehearsal I can see it leads to a fight between the two brothers in which Musashi-bo-Benkei is killed. At this point the performance for next Sunday ends. The final performance at 23 & 24 of April will probably tell the whole story.

The last scenes are rehearsed. Fumio adds improvements in choreography of the sword dance. The theatrical effect of the fights is strengthening by stronger reactions on the attacks. Fumio continues working on the details which bring a better rhythm to the scenes.

The actors put more emotion in their acting. There is more expression in the face and the voice. Emotions are easily expressed. When the play is rehearsed for the last time I see Mihoko is really touched by emotion. One of the actresses starts crying and is personally moved. It is impressing to see how much effort and involvement these people have.

I wonder how my workshop will connect with the experience of these actors. In my training I focus on the emotional acting. The physical movement will lead to an inner emotional response. The aim is to open yourself to this inner response, feel it and express it with your body. How the actors of O-Getsu Ryu work with emotional acting I can't analyze as an observer. I hope there will be an opportunity to talk about this with Mihoko and Fumio before the workshop. It will probably make me more capable to relate better to the actors and their reflection on emotional acting.

At last the costumes are checked. There is not enough time to dress and see if everything is in order. I like the historical costumes and the bright colors. It will bring an extra dimension to the image of the performance. I can't wait to see the final result when everything comes together and the performance is staged.

The rehearsal is ended with staging the applause. It has been a long day for everyone with a good result and everything has been done according to the time schedule. Tomorrow there is only an evening rehearsal, the so called dress rehearsal.