Okada Masaki Monogatari

Update 1 Sept 2019: Since Bracken Moor has wrapped up successfully in Osaka today (1 September 2019), I can release the spoilers now.  Scroll down to the end for the spoilers. The real-life "Bracken Moor" posters outside Theatre Creation on 15 August 2019 Below are my impressions after watching "Bracken Moor" twice in Tokyo during Okada Masaki's birthday. It does not spoil the end per se, but I will update the post with the most important spoilers after the Osaka show ends on 1 September. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Masaki! Stay happy and healthy, and thank you for the light within you! If “Hamlet” swept my feet away with its burning passion, “Bracken Moor” is a slowly burning amber that eventually warms my heart in the middle of an emotional winter. If “Hamlet” is about revenge, “Bracken Moor” is about healing. I think that’s my conclusion after watching two Bracken Moor (BM henceforth) shows on Okada Masaki’s birthday yesterday (15 August 2019). ...

Hamlet (Okada Masaki) & Ophelia (Kuroki Haru), photo by Hosono Shinji Act Guide 2019 Summer Theatre Reviews: Hamlet Review by Ichikawa Aki Translated by Icha In the olden days, I used to think that I knew nothing of the agony of youth euphoria. However, as years go by, I found myself entangled in the bottomless magnetic force of this drama. “Hamlet” as described by the British director Simon Godwin was fast yet clear at the same time. The details were trimmed and compacted into a three hours’ performance, but it was not merely a digested version that just chased after the plots. Fully decorated words were repeatedly conveyed with such a heated passion, perhaps because the cast truly lived their roles to the fullest. With clear dialogues, Okada Masaki’s Hamlet was a philosophical young man with a bitter sense of humour. Although he occasionally had the bright antics, he was actually looking down into an abyss of nothingness. The bandages on his wrists, the belt ...

Bracken Moor, The Ghost of the Wasteland "Our loss has returned home in the form of our son" I’m very happy to challenge this work at my 30 years old’s milestone This summer, Okada Masaki will star in Theatre Creation’s “Bracken Moor, the Ghost of the Wasteland”. The director is Kamimura Satoshi who made Okada his first pick. As this production is the Japan debut of this story, what kind of chemistry will this fresh collaboration between Okada and  Kamimura  produce? At the visual shooting site, Takahashi Eriko asked Okada about his current state of mind.  
  Text by Takahashi Eriko Photo by Sakurai Takayuki Translated by Icha Last year’s summer, I watched a stage show titled  “Otona no kenka ga owaru made” (“Adult Fights Till the End”, directed by Kamimura-san (Satoshi, 上村聡史). I found that show very interesting. The way of directing was very fresh and I also ended up learning about various things such as how the actors moved. Because at that tim...

Okada Masaki as Hamlet (photo by Hosono Shinji ) Below is my translation of Nobue Hiroshi’s review of ‘Hamlet’ in Asahi Weekly. 日本語の原作は こちらです。 The true face of Okada Masaki, whose determination is admired by our Radio Man 23 June 2019 By Nobue Hiroshi, translated by Icha, from Asahi.com With a selection of music, TOKYO FM’s Radio Man Nobue Hiroshi talks about society in his “Radio Pa Pa” series. This time, it’s about “a night in Tsuruhashi Osaka where Okada Masaki collapsed on the spot during a discussion”.  A theatre visualises words and dialogs. A theatre spins out stories that have cross-overs with realities. Tossed into the stage under the gaze of hundreds and thousands of piercing eyes like Damocles’ sword, the actor plays a life where even the strangest thing can happen. A stage without a performer is but a space with nothing. That’s why a one-off purity, a determination if you will, drifts in theatres. It resembles the situation in an independent, silent s...

  Screen-shot from Bunkamura's Hamlet promotional video Before I watched Hamlet, I have wanted to made an MV of Hamlet. Since the beautiful stage and cast of Hamlet are still in my mind, I thought it was a good time to make one MV then. Here I use one of the most iconic opera songs, "O Mio Babbino Caro" by Giacomo Puccini, sung beautifully by the late Maria Callas. I thought the song choice is very apt because it talks about a girl (Lauretta) who was forbidden by her father to see her beloved. It captures Ophelia's sorrow for not being able to be with Hamlet (because Polonius and Laertes did not like the idea). The MV also - I hope - captures Hamlet's regret upon Ophelia's death, as well as his regret for the death of Polonius. Hamlet wasn't a perfect prince, but in the end, I think he grew up. To me, Okada Masaki's Hamlet perfectly captured that journey. The song lyrics is below.

Hamlet (and Ophelia et cetera) kept lurking in my mind as my airplane left Osaka. In particular, Hamlet’s line, alas unspoken to him, concerning his love for Ophelia. Hence, I wrote this piece, imagining that Hamlet would seek for Ophelia before he departed for England. Hence, this piece is taken after Act 4 Scene 3 (where Hamlet admitted where he stored Polonius’ body) and before Act 4 Scene 4 (where Hamlet saw Fortinbras just before the former departed for England). At this stage, Ophelia had not found out that her father had been gruesomely murdered. I have Okada Masaki’s Hamlet and Kuroki Haru’s Ophelia completely in my mind as I wrote this. I hope you can imagine them enacting this part, albeit it is written in English… Never Doubt I Love... Prince Hamlet of Denmark stealthily crept amongst the balustrades of Polonius’ residence. He knew the alleys, the corridors, the nooks and the corners of that section rather well, or shall we say very well, for he had frequented thi...

Hamlet's (Okada Masaki) "Frailty, thy name is woman" soliloquy, photo by Hosono Shinji Doubt thou the stars are fire,  Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love Those lines were that of Hamlet’s (Act 2, Scene 2), but they were not uttered by the famous prince. Instead, the comedic Polonius (Yamazaki Hajime) read it, almost comically, to a group of female audience, who I am certain would have fainted on the spot had Okada Masaki’s Hamlet read those lines for them.  I would.

Below are my impressions after watching Hamlet, produced by Simon Godwin for Theatre Cocoon Bunkamura with the main star Okada Masaki.  Readers who would like to see the August WOWOW recording without spoilers SHOULD NOT read this post. Hamlet doesn’t contain spoilers per se, but every production is different, every show has its nuances. At the same time, there are overseas fans who want to read this review, and for them, I upload this review, with big spoiler tags that apply to details and nuances. Click this link for my impressions of the Osaka Hamlet show.  (Update 18 Sept'19: Click here to read my impressions after re-watching 'Hamlet' at WOWOW) Ready? SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Hamlet (Okada Masaki) vs Laertes (Aoyagi Shō), photo by Hosono Shinji  In which I quoted Simon Godwin’s reason for choosing Hamlet for his first work in Japan. In which I presented some Hamlet quotes in Japanese. And in which I posted some Tweets about Okada Masaki’s and Simon Godwin’s Hamlet (because apparently there are two other Japanese Hamlets floating around the Tweeter-sphere these days). In other words: “assorted Hamlet”, Hamlet Moriawase. よろしくね！ First thing first: The ONLY interview so far that mentioned the importance of Masaki in Simon Godwin’s decision for choosing Hamlet:

Update 24 May : have added Simon Godwin's endorsement for Okada Masaki's Hamlet and also a snippet of the Hamlet show in Bunkamura Simon Godwin (photo by Moriyama Yūko) Simon Godwin was interviewed by Otocoto last April for his stage play “Hamlet”. Thus, I’ve translated the Japanese interview below for us to understand Godwin’s vision on the 2019 Hamlet starring Okada Masaki, Kuroki Hana et al. It’s worth noting another interview of Simon’s from Japan Times (30 April 2019), this time in English, with the director mentioning how Okada Masaki was the reason that he (Godwin) chose Hamlet as his first stage play in Japan. The Japan Times article can be read here . Simon Godwin has come to Japan to direct Okada Masaki’s “Hamlet”

Okada Masaki, Feb 2019. Photo: Johnny Terasaka, Spice Okada Masaki: on the memories of the late Ninagawa Yukio and challenging Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” 14 Feb 2019 Interview by Fujimoto Mayu (translated by Icha)