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Charing Cross Theatre, London
Writer: Takuya Kaneshima
Translated by Linda Hoaglund
Inspired by the short story “Shisei” by Junichiro Tanizaki
Directed by Hogara Kawai
Cast: Leo Ashizawa, Aki Nakagawa, Nozomi de Lencquesaing, Mao Aono
Producer: Umeda Arts Theater
Dates of run: October 14-26
Running time: 90 minutes, including interval.
Love them or loathe them, tattoos have global appeal.
But Japan’s version of permanently etching ink into the skin is culturally specific – and that is the point for the production that culminates this year’s collaboration between Osaka’s Umeda Arts Theater and London’s Charing Cross Theatre.
Under the assured direction of Hogara Kawai, this rendition of the 1910 short story “Shisei” by Junichiro Tanizaki, known in Japan as a major writer, boldy and deliberately includes what could be alienating.
For at least the non-Japanese members of the audience, the first audience laughter is uneasy as we wonder if it’s acceptable to be amused by Leo Ashizawa as the tattooer Seikichi, a self-styled dirty old man.
Our comfort grows over the course of the action, not least because of a violent event that reverses the male-female/artist-subject balance of power. Mao Aono and Aki Nakagawa as Kazuyo A and Kazuyo B cease to be canvases for a man’s expression and fantasy and become instead his means to survive.
Adding to all the duality, Nozomi de Lencquesaing as “the customer” is supposedly English, with the accent to prove it, and he has travelled all the way from London for a Japanese tattoo.
At the same time, a real-life Japanese ink brush painter Gaku Azuma has travelled to London for an interval demonstration that is almost straightforward in being simply absorbing.
The overall result is splendidly arch as it plays to what I hope will be a growing theatrical dialogue between east and west.
Tattooer
Charing Cross Theatre, London
Writer: Takuya Kaneshima
Translated by Linda Hoaglund
Inspired by the short story “Shisei” by Junichiro Tanizaki
Directed by Hogara Kawai
Cast: Leo Ashizawa, Aki Nakagawa, Nozomi de Lencquesaing, Mao Aono
Producer: Umeda Arts Theater
Dates of run: October 14-26
Running time: 90 minutes, including interval.
Love them or loathe them, tattoos have global appeal.
But Japan’s version of permanently etching ink into the skin is culturally specific – and that is the point for the production that culminates this year’s collaboration between Osaka’s Umeda Arts Theater and London’s Charing Cross Theatre.
Under the assured direction of Hogara Kawai, this rendition of the 1910 short story “Shisei” by Junichiro Tanizaki, known in Japan as a major writer, boldy and deliberately includes what could be alienating.
For at least the non-Japanese members of the audience, the first audience laughter is uneasy as we wonder if it’s acceptable to be amused by Leo Ashizawa as the tattooer Seikichi, a self-styled dirty old man.
Our comfort grows over the course of the action, not least because of a violent event that reverses the male-female/artist-subject balance of power. Mao Aono and Aki Nakagawa as Kazuyo A and Kazuyo B cease to be canvases for a man’s expression and fantasy and become instead his means to survive.
Adding to all the duality, Nozomi de Lencquesaing as “the customer” is supposedly English, with the accent to prove it, and he has travelled all the way from London for a Japanese tattoo.
At the same time, a real-life Japanese ink brush painter Gaku Azuma has travelled to London for an interval demonstration that is almost straightforward in being simply absorbing.
The overall result is splendidly arch as it plays to what I hope will be a growing theatrical dialogue between east and west.
Barbara Lewis © 2024.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre