Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Autumn Selection “The Miser” 　Interview with Kuranosuke Sasaki

“The Miser” opens at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Playhouse on Wednesday, November 23. Silviu Purcarete, the giant of Romanian theatre, is teaming up once more with famous actor Kuranosuke Sasaki for the first time since the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre production of “Richard III” five years ago in 2017. Every day, sound and costume personnel charged with bringing Purcarete's improvisational and unexpected ideas to life go to rehearsals; and like“Richard III,” the presence of overseas creators reinforcing the production team line-up is driving expectations for a twist to overturn the "conventional wisdom”of Japanese theatre.

The script is based on “The Miser,” " the masterpiece of masterpieces by Molière, one of France's leading playwrights who was born 400 years ago this year.Lead character Harpagon is not only miserly but arrogant and egotistical. Wrangling between family members and hangers-on who go up against each other with their various plotting and scheming in response to problems caused by old Harpagon might be painful for those involved, but there is no doubt that audiences will find their shenanigans a thigh-slapping delight. How will this classic comedy, interpreted in a variety of ways around the world, unfold this time around? We talk to Sasaki-san, who plays the lead role.

-Apparently Sasaki-san you also wanted to team up with Purcarete on this production.

Sasaki: Yes. I told him I’d be delighted to work with him again. I’m very glad we have been able to meet again onthis work.

-How would you describe Purcarete’s unique directorial style?

Sasaki: The last time we worked together on “Richard III,”each time, even if had the characters and scenes from the play organized in our heads, he made many unconventional directorial suggestions that completely overturned what we had in mind.The main character Richard III played by me is often portrayed as being hunchbacked and a bit unsightly, but Mr. Purcarete requested that he be beautiful, slender and stylish.So allI could do was read and interpret the script from his unique perspective, something which made going to rehearsals fun. The project had attracted some talented actors, and we had all thought about what we hoped to do during rehearsals; but every time he was like, “Are you really reading it that way?!” It was like a “scrap and build” policy –create something then destroy it, then create something again and then destroy that. It made every day a new and exciting experience.

-Unconstrained, unfettered Purcarete. Can you put your finger on the wonder of his directing?

Sasaki: The dirty, the grotesque, the horrible: he is even able to make things like this look beautiful.The main character Richard III is a suspicious and warped human being, but I think even he was portrayed as beautiful in a brutal way.

-You are starting rehearsals for new production “The Miser,” with you in the titular role. At the present stage, where do you feel the interest of the program lies?

Sasaki: Lots of things are still up in the air, but I want to play the role in such a way that the protagonist’s hopelessness, the overly stupid aspects of him, mean the audience can’t help but laugh with shock and amazement. In any case, the main character Harpagon, who I play, is a complete miser. He won’t even spend money on things he needs in daily life, and he doesn’t give any money to his children. It’s not even like he invests in anything or creates anything new –he just guards his money.

-And it doesn’t end there

Sasaki: No. He’s not only obsessed with money, but he’s also worried about how other people see him in his obsession. He’s proud and arrogant. He really is hopeless. And he falls in love with his own son’s sweetheart and wants to marry her. He wields his paternal power. He really does represent the worst extreme of an interfering and troublesome old man, I think.Meanwhile, the people around Harpagon like his daughter, his son whose sweetheart is about to be forcibly taken away by her real father, the maid and the servant, etc., people who understand his abnormal obsession, try to make thing happen by themselves in all manner of ways. In the end, only old Harpagonhasn’t changed,or gained anything.

-It is a work that can be taken as a comedy or a tragedy depending on where the characters stand, and from the point of view of the audience observing the main character Harpagon, that must be pleasing.

Sasaki: I would like to make his character seem almost endearing. People in the audience might even reflect that it (his obsessiveness) seems somehow familiar, or decide he really is beyond the pale(remembering that they are close to someone like him), although not as bad as Harpagon(laughs).

-Meaning everyone probably harbors these obsessions inside to a greater or lesser degree.

Sasaki: But if I knew someone like that I’d like to go out for a meal or something with them. Just out of curiosity. As long as they didn’t have a bad influence on me (laughs).

-Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the venue for “The Miser,” is somewhere you have performed many times in the past.

Sasaki: Actually it’s now over thirty years ago but when it opened in 1990, I performed at the opening event. I was a student at the time, performing together with other members of Planet Pistaccio, the theatre company I belonged to. I have a feeling we did a sketch or something like that. I’ve completely forgotten what it was about (laughs). I came up to Tokyo from Osaka by car, and after the performance we all went out on the town near Ikebukuro Station to celebrate. That night I slept in Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park (laughs). It’s fun to look back on.

-You really have a connection with this theatre, don’t you? This work is part of the Tokyo Festival 2022 program, and during the festival period, it will be an opportunity to enjoy many different performing arts, centering around the Ikebukuro area of Toshima-ku.

Sasaki: Before when I visited Romania's Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the world's leading theatre festivals, performances including plays were held every day throughout the city. Performers appear in restaurants as well, and loads of children play around the squares.Seeing performances in an environment where extraordinary “events” spontaneously appear in the streets alongside the daily activities of life involves jumping over various borders like language and country differences, and I intuitively found it fascinating and exhilarating. Tokyo Festival also allows people to experience a variety of performing arts, so it would be great if it could be an opportunity for more people to familiarize themselves with the arts.

-As you say, this year’s Tokyo Festival is hosting over thirty different programs, providing an opportunity for men and women of all ages as well as families to become more familiar with the performing arts.

Sasaki: Actually, I think the appeal of stage arts is that you can immerse yourself in a real environment where things are going on in real time.In my view, it uses a certain amount of energy compared to watching something on TV at home.What’s more, you can't enjoy it unless you watch actively, not passively. We, the performers and the director, create a production with this mechanism in mind, and the organizers of the productions and the festival also consciously create an environment with that in mind. I hope that the audience will go see a variety of programs in the festival and take away something that touches or moves them.

(Photographs: Ayako Masunaga/Interview: Hiroyuki Funayose/Words: Yuria Koizumi/Hair and make-up : Naoko Nishikawa/Stylist: Koichi Fujisaki/Costume support: A blends(03-6452-2243/102 Miura Bldg., 1-9-17 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo))

Kuranosuke Sasaki
Born in Kyoto on February 4, 1968.
Sasaki was part of the theatre company ”Planet Pistaccio” from its inception, and remained the box-office draw of that theatre company until he left in 1998. He subsequently moved to Tokyo and began his acting career in earnest, appearing in numerous television programs, movies and theatre productions, and also making his Kabuki debut in 2014. He has received the 17th Yomiuri Theatre Award excellent actor award, 47th Kinokuniya Theatre Award in the Individual category, the 40th Kazuo Kikuta Theatre Award theatre prize, and the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role award in the 38th Japan Academy Prize. Works Sasaki has appeared in recently include theatre roles in “Macbeth”(2015), “GeGeGe no Sensei e” (2018), Team Saru’s “Kunshi ni tomonashi: the Yongzheng Emperor, loneliest “tyrant”in Chinese history” (2021), and “The Lion in Winter” (2022); movie roles in “We Make Antiques! Kyoto Rendezvous” (2020), “Live Shimada Akira: TheLast Governor of Okinawa during the War” (2021), and “The Woman of S.R.I.: The Movie”(2021); and television drama roles in “Miyako ga Kyotoni Yattekita!” (ABC, 2021), “Cyber Crimes Unit” (EX 2021), and “The Men Of The Wada Family” (EX 2021). The movie “The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai”(2022) is currently showing in movie theatres, and “We Make Antiques! 3” is in the offing for a 2023 release.

Written by Molière/Translated by Nobuko Akiyama
Directed by Silviu Purcarete
Cast: Kuranosuke Sasaki, Masaki Kaji, Masato Takeuchi, Ayaka Ohnishi, Hana Amano, Sakurako Moteki, Ginga Kikuchi, Tomoharu Hasegawa, Kenji Anan, ToruTezuka, Haruhiko jo

Performance period: Wednesday, Nov. 23 –Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022(no performances on some days)
-Place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Playhouse
-Tickets on sale Sept. 10(Sat) from 10:00 a.m.
-Ticketprice: All reserved, tax included
S seats ¥9,500
A seats: ¥7,500
Side seats: ¥5,500
65 and over: ¥8,000
25 and under: ¥5,500
High school students and under:¥1,000

Program/ticket details: https://tokyo-festival.jp/2022/program/syuse