Okada Masaki Monogatari

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!