The 2019 Bracken Moor impressions
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.
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).
Because BM is a slowly burning show, it honestly didn’t hit me with a passion like Hamlet did to me during its first 10 minutes. On the contrary, BM made me thought of the lines and messages between the lines. Of course Hamlet has hidden messages as well, but this Shakespeare masterpiece has been dissected so many times that it’s easier for me to find the messages. For Hamlet, all I have to do is to see how Masaki (and other cast) portray those characters and deliver those messages.
But with BM, I have to think further and deeper. Hence I’m glad I watched both matinee and soiree shows on the same day on August 15. Indeed, I was very very lucky... and although my wallet was crying, my heart was not. Because during the soiree, I was able to see things that I didn’t see during the matinee, which was my first show.
And these are things I’ve learned after two shows.
Filling the gaps. The BM production fills the gaps that were not apparent when I read the book. The book was written in the script format, mind you, so it’s not immediately apparent to me how the actors would deliver the lines and portray the characters. Yet, the show gives Masaki more ways of portraying silent lines here, and I appreciate that. In portraying Terence, Masaki loaded silent gaps in conversations with emotions (as he does when delivering his lines).
For instance, I like it how Terence looked like he was seeing a ghost when the pale-faced Elizabeth (Edgar’s mother) descended the stairs for the first time. I also like it when it dawned on him that Elizabeth and Harold weren’t talking properly after Edgar’s death. Terence was also pensive, then became sorrowful and shed silent tears when he listened to Elizabeth’s conversation with Vanessa (Terence’s mother). At the other end of the spectrum, I like it how Terence is frustrated with Harold’s conservative views. When Harold remained the conservative Harold in the last scene, Terence’s silent disapproval was as loud as his scream during the Edgar possession scene.
I do have to admit that I was worried that Okada Masaki wouldn’t be able to outperform his Hamlet in BM. I mean Masaki’s Hamlet was glowing, such that when I finished reading BM and finished watching Hamlet, I wondered how Masaki would outperform his Hamlet as Terence. But the truth is, Masaki’s Hamlet is not his Terence. They are two different men. Masaki’s Terence is a more mature young man, albeit with the same sharpness and wit. Terence is also subtler than Hamlet. Where Hamlet had explosive emotions, Terence swallowed his annoyance over Harold’s conservative thinking. Even during the last scene, despite his disappointment that Harold wouldn’t change, Terence still just gritted his teeth, rolled his eyes and left.
And that’s the other thing that BM gave me. It gives me subtleties and context. I ended up chatting about it for more than an hour with Benio-san after the soiree (thank you for the chat, Benio-san). When I asked Wisteria-san and another friend I met during the Hamlet show whether they liked BM, they said they did, mainly for the deep meanings in the conversations. After two viewings, I agree with them.
However, I still have to admit that my heart beat faster in the last scene when Harold was shirtfronting Terence for a reason I cannot yet disclose. And I was joyful when Terence aggressively took the bell from Harold’s hand during the first scene when Harold was calling his slave, I mean, his servant Eileen. By the way, that scene (Terence taking away the bell) was NOT in the English script, hence I also appreciate it for the creative licence. It shows the difference between the liberal Terence who treasured human life and the conservative Harold who would just terminate his employees to keep his margin high. I don’t want Terence to be explosive like Hamlet. But when Terence was more assertive, I like it too.
The downside of already reading the book (I had to, lest I would be at lost at how the story goes, it being delivered in Japanese) is that I had no idea on how the silence would be treated, but I'm glad that Masaki and the rest of the cast treat the silent moments well. There is another downside of already reading the script. I know what happened in the end, hence I had no surprise during the last scene. However, the production still gave me some jolting moments despite knowing what happened, which is always a good sign.
Moving onto the rest of the cast… I think Kimura Tae is the female star here though others are amazing too. When Kimura Tae's Elizabeth said coldly that her son died, hence she didn’t need any pineapple wallpapers, I shuddered. It was a dead woman who said it, hollow at least, devoid of any life (one Elizabeth-Terence scene that definitely took me was when Terence as Edgar told Elizabeth to move on with her life while the latter wailed her heart out).
Minemura Rie as Vanessa Avery was a good comfort for Elizabeth, though her jealousy when Elizabeth was claiming Terence as her own son was also a delight to see. I particularly like Geoffrey (portrayed lovingly by Aijima Kazuyuki), for he was the most perfect father that Terence could have asked for. Geoffrey knows Terence inside out. He definitely knew that Terence and Harold had a big fight during the last scene (I still cannot disclose the reason because it’s a big spoiler), yet he chose not to push both men further for that. Masuoka Toru as Harold Pritchard was definitely Terence’s foil here. He was everything that Terence was not; including his inability to embrace his own feelings. Harold believed he was not the villain here; he just was doing his job of… doing his job as a merchant. Yet, it was his escapee; his way of not dealing with his loss. Only at the end he sobbed, and I appreciate the way Masuoka showed it.
Now, will this show give me the hiraeth feeling that Nobue Hiroshi so fondly described in his Hamlet review? The feeling of wanting to go back to that place, that moment, that I can no longer return to? Perhaps at the moment, after watching the second show, I still reserve the hiraeth for Hamlet and Ningen Gowasan. There are some factors to it. The constantly changing setting from Hamlet and Ningen Gowasan is one reason for the Hiraeth. BM on the other hand, truly just rely on one setting, i.e. the Pritchard’s living room. Hamlet and NG also made a good use of the audience aisles as entrance passages for actors (NG used the audience aisles more than Hamlet, but I still am grateful that Hamlet utilised the audience aisles). However, BM actors only entered the stage from stage wings, not from the audience aisles. To me... entering the stage from the audience aisles bond actors and audience more, thus I regret the lack of use of the audience aisles in BM.
Also, as a non-native speaker, having a lot of actions in a show makes it easier for me to get involved in the show. Hamlet no doubt has lots of dialogs, but because I’ve read the original work, I can follow it. I didn’t know what story Ningen Gowasan was except for the broad theme, but I can somewhat follow it due to the many actions and the comedic nature of the production.
But since BM has a locked-room setting and it’s heavy on dialogues (in Japanese, no less), it has – as I admitted – been more difficult for me to get into the feelings. I’m not saying it’s not there, the feelings are there indeed. More meanings indeed started to surface during the soiree on the 15th compared to my first show. Also, re-reading the script again after the show helps me understanding the context better. So, who is to say what I will feel after the 3rd show (soiree) on the 16th today?
I’ll definitely update you after finishing the soiree today.
By the way, during the matinee, I once conjured up the penguin-ish Elizabeth from Gintama when Terence called Elizabeth’s name. However, the severity of the Bracken Moor story evaporated penguin Elizabeth’s image as soon as it arrived. Yet, when Elizabeth was saying how she waited for Death to come for her, the Japanese they use is “Shinigami”. Which conjured up an image of Yurakutei Yakumo VIII saying cynically, “Shinigami da.”
That image remained. Just like Yakumo was longing for his death, Elizabeth Pritchard was also longing for her death.
Oh, a totally innocent side note: a half-naked Masaki was very beautiful. Sexy yes, but more beautiful than sexy.
Someone said he looked like a Greek god only in his pajama pants, and I agree. He looked like Adonis, shining and glowing. Rather skinny yes, but his upper body is lean and his shoulders are rather broad, creating a nice V shape. And don’t get me started on the way he moaned in his sleep after the trip to the Bracken Moor mining site. Suffice to say that I really think an X-rated movie of Masaki is raaather overdue...
Since Bracken Moor has wrapped up successfully in Osaka today (1 September 2019), I can release the spoilers now.
Actually, those who Google “Bracken Moor” and go to Wikipedia will already find out how it ended and what the twists were. But for those who had not read it, here we go:
Terence actually pretended to be possessed by Edgar’s spirit. The night they arrived at Harold and Elizabeth’s house, Terence found Edgar’s diary in a hidden compartment under the floor of Edgar’s room. Upon realising that Elizabeth had not moved on, Terence staged a show where he portrayed himself as being possessed by Edgar. I think Terence’s goal is truly just to help bring closure to Elizabeth, for clearly he cared for her (more like a boy to his aunt, or something like that). Thus, here we have the similarity with Hamlet’s theme of a play in a play, although the intended goal is different. Hamlet pretended to be crazy to find out the truth about his father’s death; and then we also have ‘The Murder of Gonzago’ as a play in ‘Hamlet’ – thus double plays in a play. On the other hand, Terence’s motive in ‘Bracken Moor’ is different. His motive is helping Elizabeth to let go and heal, for he clearly saw how Elizabeth still clung to her past.
Thus I also think that Terence had actually let go of Edgar by the time he arrived at the Pritchards’ place. Had Terence not moved on from Edgar’s death, he would find it very hard to play a possessed person. It would be too much a burden for him. Yet, the Terence that emerged at the last scene was a normal person, someone who wasn’t disturbed by his own acting. He looked normal and talked normal. Yes, Terence was angry when Harold punched and challenged him, but that reaction is still within normal range. I don’t see a disturbed individual at the end of the play. Terence arrived as a normal young man with a beautiful childhood (except for that one episode where his childhood friend died), he also left the scene as a normal man.
Then we have the question of Terence’s sexuality again. I think I have to watch BM once more to see if there are any signals that Terence was homosexual. I don’t recall any, but I could be wrong. However, there is one thing that made me think that Edgar was the one displaying the homosexual tendencies. In his diary, Edgar said that Terence was the only person who truly understood him. Now, I see that as a normal remark of a child; for a child would be forgiven to think that no one truly understood him. But, in light of the gay theory, I see that Edgar’s comment might actually be interpreted as a sign of him – not Terence – being gay.
So that’s the first twist. The second twist came at the very end after everyone left Harold alone. A scary figure emerged from the dark, screaming “Father!” at Harold.
Yes, it was Edgar’s ghost. Apparently, when Eileen Hanaway (the servant) couldn’t open the door to Edgar’s room, it might have been Edgar stubbornly refused to open the door for her. I also am now inclined to think that it was Edgar himself who guided Terence in finding the dead boy’s diary.
That gave me a chill.
Anyway, I do miss watching Okada Masaki on stage. Watching his normal Terence versus the possessed Terence is a delight, for Masaki portrayed a 12 years old boy beautifully. The way Masaki and Kimura Tae portrayed the scene where Terence pushed Elizabeth into accepting Edgar’s death was… poignant. I wish I have a better mastery of Japanese, thus I can appreciate the nuances better… but I still want to see that scene again.
So, once again, thank you Universe, for allowing me to watch Bracken Moor. ブラッケン・ムーアを感謝しています。
Now, what’s your stage play after this, Masaki?
A Greek tragedy? An old English romance? An Edo era story?... another Shakespeare?
(Oh yes, please for all the above!)
I’d love to see whatever it is.
 |
| 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.
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).
Because BM is a slowly burning show, it honestly didn’t hit me with a passion like Hamlet did to me during its first 10 minutes. On the contrary, BM made me thought of the lines and messages between the lines. Of course Hamlet has hidden messages as well, but this Shakespeare masterpiece has been dissected so many times that it’s easier for me to find the messages. For Hamlet, all I have to do is to see how Masaki (and other cast) portray those characters and deliver those messages.
But with BM, I have to think further and deeper. Hence I’m glad I watched both matinee and soiree shows on the same day on August 15. Indeed, I was very very lucky... and although my wallet was crying, my heart was not. Because during the soiree, I was able to see things that I didn’t see during the matinee, which was my first show.
And these are things I’ve learned after two shows.
 |
| One. That Terence Avery is very dashing ^_^ (source). Also... |
Filling the gaps. The BM production fills the gaps that were not apparent when I read the book. The book was written in the script format, mind you, so it’s not immediately apparent to me how the actors would deliver the lines and portray the characters. Yet, the show gives Masaki more ways of portraying silent lines here, and I appreciate that. In portraying Terence, Masaki loaded silent gaps in conversations with emotions (as he does when delivering his lines).
For instance, I like it how Terence looked like he was seeing a ghost when the pale-faced Elizabeth (Edgar’s mother) descended the stairs for the first time. I also like it when it dawned on him that Elizabeth and Harold weren’t talking properly after Edgar’s death. Terence was also pensive, then became sorrowful and shed silent tears when he listened to Elizabeth’s conversation with Vanessa (Terence’s mother). At the other end of the spectrum, I like it how Terence is frustrated with Harold’s conservative views. When Harold remained the conservative Harold in the last scene, Terence’s silent disapproval was as loud as his scream during the Edgar possession scene.
I do have to admit that I was worried that Okada Masaki wouldn’t be able to outperform his Hamlet in BM. I mean Masaki’s Hamlet was glowing, such that when I finished reading BM and finished watching Hamlet, I wondered how Masaki would outperform his Hamlet as Terence. But the truth is, Masaki’s Hamlet is not his Terence. They are two different men. Masaki’s Terence is a more mature young man, albeit with the same sharpness and wit. Terence is also subtler than Hamlet. Where Hamlet had explosive emotions, Terence swallowed his annoyance over Harold’s conservative thinking. Even during the last scene, despite his disappointment that Harold wouldn’t change, Terence still just gritted his teeth, rolled his eyes and left.
 |
| Even covered in grease, Masaki's Terence is still charming... (source: zura_azra77) |
And that’s the other thing that BM gave me. It gives me subtleties and context. I ended up chatting about it for more than an hour with Benio-san after the soiree (thank you for the chat, Benio-san). When I asked Wisteria-san and another friend I met during the Hamlet show whether they liked BM, they said they did, mainly for the deep meanings in the conversations. After two viewings, I agree with them.
However, I still have to admit that my heart beat faster in the last scene when Harold was shirtfronting Terence for a reason I cannot yet disclose. And I was joyful when Terence aggressively took the bell from Harold’s hand during the first scene when Harold was calling his slave, I mean, his servant Eileen. By the way, that scene (Terence taking away the bell) was NOT in the English script, hence I also appreciate it for the creative licence. It shows the difference between the liberal Terence who treasured human life and the conservative Harold who would just terminate his employees to keep his margin high. I don’t want Terence to be explosive like Hamlet. But when Terence was more assertive, I like it too.
 |
| Harold Pritchard (Masuoka Toru) is definitely Terence' foil here (source) |
The downside of already reading the book (I had to, lest I would be at lost at how the story goes, it being delivered in Japanese) is that I had no idea on how the silence would be treated, but I'm glad that Masaki and the rest of the cast treat the silent moments well. There is another downside of already reading the script. I know what happened in the end, hence I had no surprise during the last scene. However, the production still gave me some jolting moments despite knowing what happened, which is always a good sign.
 |
| The mourning Elizabeth Pritchard (Kimura Tae)(source) |
Moving onto the rest of the cast… I think Kimura Tae is the female star here though others are amazing too. When Kimura Tae's Elizabeth said coldly that her son died, hence she didn’t need any pineapple wallpapers, I shuddered. It was a dead woman who said it, hollow at least, devoid of any life (one Elizabeth-Terence scene that definitely took me was when Terence as Edgar told Elizabeth to move on with her life while the latter wailed her heart out).
 |
| The dysfunctional couple of Harold and Elizabeth (Kimura Tae), mainly due to Harold's inability to admit his own losses (source) |
Minemura Rie as Vanessa Avery was a good comfort for Elizabeth, though her jealousy when Elizabeth was claiming Terence as her own son was also a delight to see. I particularly like Geoffrey (portrayed lovingly by Aijima Kazuyuki), for he was the most perfect father that Terence could have asked for. Geoffrey knows Terence inside out. He definitely knew that Terence and Harold had a big fight during the last scene (I still cannot disclose the reason because it’s a big spoiler), yet he chose not to push both men further for that. Masuoka Toru as Harold Pritchard was definitely Terence’s foil here. He was everything that Terence was not; including his inability to embrace his own feelings. Harold believed he was not the villain here; he just was doing his job of… doing his job as a merchant. Yet, it was his escapee; his way of not dealing with his loss. Only at the end he sobbed, and I appreciate the way Masuoka showed it.
Now, will this show give me the hiraeth feeling that Nobue Hiroshi so fondly described in his Hamlet review? The feeling of wanting to go back to that place, that moment, that I can no longer return to? Perhaps at the moment, after watching the second show, I still reserve the hiraeth for Hamlet and Ningen Gowasan. There are some factors to it. The constantly changing setting from Hamlet and Ningen Gowasan is one reason for the Hiraeth. BM on the other hand, truly just rely on one setting, i.e. the Pritchard’s living room. Hamlet and NG also made a good use of the audience aisles as entrance passages for actors (NG used the audience aisles more than Hamlet, but I still am grateful that Hamlet utilised the audience aisles). However, BM actors only entered the stage from stage wings, not from the audience aisles. To me... entering the stage from the audience aisles bond actors and audience more, thus I regret the lack of use of the audience aisles in BM.
Also, as a non-native speaker, having a lot of actions in a show makes it easier for me to get involved in the show. Hamlet no doubt has lots of dialogs, but because I’ve read the original work, I can follow it. I didn’t know what story Ningen Gowasan was except for the broad theme, but I can somewhat follow it due to the many actions and the comedic nature of the production.
But since BM has a locked-room setting and it’s heavy on dialogues (in Japanese, no less), it has – as I admitted – been more difficult for me to get into the feelings. I’m not saying it’s not there, the feelings are there indeed. More meanings indeed started to surface during the soiree on the 15th compared to my first show. Also, re-reading the script again after the show helps me understanding the context better. So, who is to say what I will feel after the 3rd show (soiree) on the 16th today?
I’ll definitely update you after finishing the soiree today.
By the way, during the matinee, I once conjured up the penguin-ish Elizabeth from Gintama when Terence called Elizabeth’s name. However, the severity of the Bracken Moor story evaporated penguin Elizabeth’s image as soon as it arrived. Yet, when Elizabeth was saying how she waited for Death to come for her, the Japanese they use is “Shinigami”. Which conjured up an image of Yurakutei Yakumo VIII saying cynically, “Shinigami da.”
That image remained. Just like Yakumo was longing for his death, Elizabeth Pritchard was also longing for her death.
Oh, a totally innocent side note: a half-naked Masaki was very beautiful. Sexy yes, but more beautiful than sexy.
 |
| Elizabeth (Kimura Tae), Terence (Masaki) and Terence' mother Vanessa (Minemura Rie) (source) |
Someone said he looked like a Greek god only in his pajama pants, and I agree. He looked like Adonis, shining and glowing. Rather skinny yes, but his upper body is lean and his shoulders are rather broad, creating a nice V shape. And don’t get me started on the way he moaned in his sleep after the trip to the Bracken Moor mining site. Suffice to say that I really think an X-rated movie of Masaki is raaather overdue...
 |
| The Bracken Moor posters outside Theatre Creation |
Impressions for the 16th August soiree
The demography was interesting during the 16th August soirée. Many males, over 60s. I was initially happy, but then it turns out to be a problem...for this demography consisted of the majority of people who left just as the curtain calls were happening (read this new post for a curtain call courtesy note that I previously posted here).
Still.
Hiraeth
I have hiraeth. Not as intense as the burning hiraeth for Hamlet, but it’s still hiraeth nonetheless. It's very likely not having the audience aisles used for entrance have reduced my hiraeth compared to Hamlet's and Ningen Gowasan's (because by having the actors walking into the scene from the audience side enhanced my involvement as a viewer, I think). The single setting that BM uses (as opposed to the revolving stage of Hamlet or the very many settings of NG) is very likely also a factor.
Nevertheless, I do have hiraeth. The most vivid moment I would like to return to is when Terence as Edgar asked Elizabeth to move on.
「もうやめて？」 “Please stop (running) already?”
I also love it when Terence took away the bell from Harold Pritchard. I want to revisit the scene where Harold and Terence wrestled each other. Partly because it reminded me of Hamlet’s fencing scene with Laertes (Aoyagi Shō), but it’s also because Terence was still trying to defend his logic (to no avail) to Harold. I also want to return to the moment where the Harold vs Terence fight ended abruptly. Just as Harold was about to pummel Terence’s beautiful face and the younger man covered his face in reflect (thus his beautiful cowlick flicked around his face), the others came in. Although the ever-understanding Geoffrey saw that something was amiss with his son, Terence’s dismissal reaction was funny.
Although I have to admit that, in my book at least, the stage setting wasn’t on par with Hamlet’s, I marvelled at the rain and thunder, and the sudden drop in the temperature during the Edgar-possessed scene (the theatre might actually lowered the thermostat big time for a chilling effect). The sun that came through the window as Eileen opened the curtains was beautifully captured by the lighting. The gothic wooden panel and that one scary painting of a 17th CE European man with a mask supported Elizabeth’s notion that the whole place was actually Harold’s, not hers, thus why bother staying. The rain and thunder, the trickling water down the windows, are my hiraeth for the setting.
Terence’s gentle response when Elizabeth asked him to hug her like he would to his own mother when he was a child was...gentle, beautiful. Yasashii, not unlike Okada Masaki himself. It shows how kind a soul Terence is.
「何、エリザベス？」
"What is it, Elizabeth?"
It was uttered in such a gentle way only Okada Masaki could. That was also a hiraeth.
Terence crawling on the floor as Edgar, crying because his foot and back hurt, asking for his mother and father, while Elizabeth wailed for not being able to be there for his son, as she repeatedly said she tried and tried, and that Edgar was never alone…. that was also my hiraeth.
More observations
Just like Hamlet, even just a modicum of humour was appreciated in BM. This aspect was served by Geoffrey Avery and Dr. Gibbons (Tachikawa Mitsutaka, who also portrayed Mr Bailey). While Dr. Gibbons provided the slapstick comedic aspect of humour, Geoffrey provided the more intelligent and funny conversations (e.g. by suggesting Terence's "nightmare" as the result of eating the cheese during dinner time - replacing the "all that Stilton after pudding" in the original script). I appreciate those moments. Terence funny revenge of Harold pummelling him as the former said goodbye was funny as well.
My third viewing provided me with the opportunity to observe more subtleties. Geoffrey definitely used subtleties a lot with his glances, smiles and frowns. He was such a good dad for Terence that we know the Averies is a happy family. Terence telling Eileen that he could take his own luggage to his room was cementing his view as a liberal (as opposed to Harold being a conservative).
Oh, someone mentioned this and I also noticed it: Several times after the curtain calls, Masaki would shake hands vigorously or just solemnly held hands in respect with Masuoka Toru-san, possibly because those two really had to work to make their confrontations convincing. And make it, they did. Also, in reality, Masuoka-san is such a sweet and humble person. I saw him (and Tachikawa-san) walking out of the building just like that, walking away as they called a taxi, after the soiree on the 16th August. By the way, Masuoka-san also played as the father of Nanba Hibito (played by Okada Masaki) in Uchū Kyōdai 2012.
Terence’s sexuality
I’ve read somewhere that Bracken Moor has a subtext of Terence’s sexuality being a gay. I have to admit that when I read the script, I didn’t see that element. True, Elizabeth said to Terence that Edgar loved Terence very much, but Vanessa also said she loved Elizabeth. Works from pre 20th CE usually talk about love between the same sex as general platonic love. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet loved Charlotte Lucas, as a friend. I see Horatio’s love for Hamlet in “Hamlet” as a platonic love between best friends (and Horatio loved his prince as a subject to his king/prince as well).
(By the way, Hamlet cast Aoyagi Shō (Laertes), Tateyama Hayata (Horatio), Murakami Nijirō (Fortinbras) and Uchida Yasuko (Guildenstern) went to see Bracken Moor. Ikuta Toma and Hirose Suzu (Natsuzora) also came at different times)
When I watched BM, I did see how Edgar’s death still impacted Terence. However, I see it more as Terence’s loss of his best friend. When the Averies arrived and Elizabeth inevitably talked about Edgar, the surreptitious glances Geoffrey and Vanessa gave Terence were, to me, glances of parents worrying about their son haven’t been able to let go of his friend’s death.
However, both Wisteria-san and Benio-san lean towards the idea that Terence was homosexual. Benio gave more detailed justifications, ranging from the reactions from his parents whenever Edgar’s name was mentioned to how Edgar cried for his father, which was symbolic to God in Christianity. Benio said that Alexi Kaye Campbell is gay, hence it’s very likely that Benio’s and Wisteria’s impression are correct. I don’t entirely disagree with them from that viewpoint…I think their theories hold some ground. It’s just when I saw the stage and studied Geoffrey’s and Vanessa’s reactions, theirs are to me more like the reaction of parents who worried that their son had not let go of his friend’s death. Simply put, I don’t see the signs that Terence was homosexual. The Terence I see was a young man who was still sad about his friend’s death, but to me he seems straight…
Regardless of Terence’s sexuality, I think he had actually let go of Edgar’s death. He was still sad about it, but he didn’t cling to it the way Elizabeth did. There’s more to the reason why I think Terence had actually let go of his grief by the time he arrived at the Pritchards’ place, but explaining more of it risks spoiling the story.
To conclude… I am very grateful that I was able to see another theatre production of Okada Masaki. 誠に感謝しています。Bracken Moor was another beautiful offering from Okada Masaki. To this gaijin with very limited Japanese, its nuances were at times obscured because I could not open the book while I watched the show. Hence, BM didn’t burn me the way Hamlet did, but burned me slowly, it did. Of course, watching Masaki shirtless, sweat flowing down his chest as he hyperventilated under the pale moonlight was a delight to see as well… (and I do want more of those)… but Bracken Moor was also solid because of the warm amber of letting go and healing…. and some hiraeth as well.
I will update this post after or as the 1 September show finishes.
Still.
Hiraeth
I have hiraeth. Not as intense as the burning hiraeth for Hamlet, but it’s still hiraeth nonetheless. It's very likely not having the audience aisles used for entrance have reduced my hiraeth compared to Hamlet's and Ningen Gowasan's (because by having the actors walking into the scene from the audience side enhanced my involvement as a viewer, I think). The single setting that BM uses (as opposed to the revolving stage of Hamlet or the very many settings of NG) is very likely also a factor.
Nevertheless, I do have hiraeth. The most vivid moment I would like to return to is when Terence as Edgar asked Elizabeth to move on.
「もうやめて？」 “Please stop (running) already?”
 |
| When Terence asked Elizabeth to move on... (source: zura_azra77) |
I also love it when Terence took away the bell from Harold Pritchard. I want to revisit the scene where Harold and Terence wrestled each other. Partly because it reminded me of Hamlet’s fencing scene with Laertes (Aoyagi Shō), but it’s also because Terence was still trying to defend his logic (to no avail) to Harold. I also want to return to the moment where the Harold vs Terence fight ended abruptly. Just as Harold was about to pummel Terence’s beautiful face and the younger man covered his face in reflect (thus his beautiful cowlick flicked around his face), the others came in. Although the ever-understanding Geoffrey saw that something was amiss with his son, Terence’s dismissal reaction was funny.
Although I have to admit that, in my book at least, the stage setting wasn’t on par with Hamlet’s, I marvelled at the rain and thunder, and the sudden drop in the temperature during the Edgar-possessed scene (the theatre might actually lowered the thermostat big time for a chilling effect). The sun that came through the window as Eileen opened the curtains was beautifully captured by the lighting. The gothic wooden panel and that one scary painting of a 17th CE European man with a mask supported Elizabeth’s notion that the whole place was actually Harold’s, not hers, thus why bother staying. The rain and thunder, the trickling water down the windows, are my hiraeth for the setting.
 |
| Elizabeth (Kimura Tae) & Terence (Okada Masaki) (source) |
Terence’s gentle response when Elizabeth asked him to hug her like he would to his own mother when he was a child was...gentle, beautiful. Yasashii, not unlike Okada Masaki himself. It shows how kind a soul Terence is.
「何、エリザベス？」
"What is it, Elizabeth?"
It was uttered in such a gentle way only Okada Masaki could. That was also a hiraeth.
Terence crawling on the floor as Edgar, crying because his foot and back hurt, asking for his mother and father, while Elizabeth wailed for not being able to be there for his son, as she repeatedly said she tried and tried, and that Edgar was never alone…. that was also my hiraeth.
More observations
Just like Hamlet, even just a modicum of humour was appreciated in BM. This aspect was served by Geoffrey Avery and Dr. Gibbons (Tachikawa Mitsutaka, who also portrayed Mr Bailey). While Dr. Gibbons provided the slapstick comedic aspect of humour, Geoffrey provided the more intelligent and funny conversations (e.g. by suggesting Terence's "nightmare" as the result of eating the cheese during dinner time - replacing the "all that Stilton after pudding" in the original script). I appreciate those moments. Terence funny revenge of Harold pummelling him as the former said goodbye was funny as well.
My third viewing provided me with the opportunity to observe more subtleties. Geoffrey definitely used subtleties a lot with his glances, smiles and frowns. He was such a good dad for Terence that we know the Averies is a happy family. Terence telling Eileen that he could take his own luggage to his room was cementing his view as a liberal (as opposed to Harold being a conservative).
Oh, someone mentioned this and I also noticed it: Several times after the curtain calls, Masaki would shake hands vigorously or just solemnly held hands in respect with Masuoka Toru-san, possibly because those two really had to work to make their confrontations convincing. And make it, they did. Also, in reality, Masuoka-san is such a sweet and humble person. I saw him (and Tachikawa-san) walking out of the building just like that, walking away as they called a taxi, after the soiree on the 16th August. By the way, Masuoka-san also played as the father of Nanba Hibito (played by Okada Masaki) in Uchū Kyōdai 2012.
 |
| Terence and Harold (Masuoka-san)(source: zura_azra77). By the way, Masuoka Tōru-san's birthday is on 23 Aug! |
 |
| ...and the team also gave Toru-san a birthday jacket just like what Masaki has! (Source: Toho Stage) |
Terence’s sexuality
I’ve read somewhere that Bracken Moor has a subtext of Terence’s sexuality being a gay. I have to admit that when I read the script, I didn’t see that element. True, Elizabeth said to Terence that Edgar loved Terence very much, but Vanessa also said she loved Elizabeth. Works from pre 20th CE usually talk about love between the same sex as general platonic love. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet loved Charlotte Lucas, as a friend. I see Horatio’s love for Hamlet in “Hamlet” as a platonic love between best friends (and Horatio loved his prince as a subject to his king/prince as well).
(By the way, Hamlet cast Aoyagi Shō (Laertes), Tateyama Hayata (Horatio), Murakami Nijirō (Fortinbras) and Uchida Yasuko (Guildenstern) went to see Bracken Moor. Ikuta Toma and Hirose Suzu (Natsuzora) also came at different times)
When I watched BM, I did see how Edgar’s death still impacted Terence. However, I see it more as Terence’s loss of his best friend. When the Averies arrived and Elizabeth inevitably talked about Edgar, the surreptitious glances Geoffrey and Vanessa gave Terence were, to me, glances of parents worrying about their son haven’t been able to let go of his friend’s death.
However, both Wisteria-san and Benio-san lean towards the idea that Terence was homosexual. Benio gave more detailed justifications, ranging from the reactions from his parents whenever Edgar’s name was mentioned to how Edgar cried for his father, which was symbolic to God in Christianity. Benio said that Alexi Kaye Campbell is gay, hence it’s very likely that Benio’s and Wisteria’s impression are correct. I don’t entirely disagree with them from that viewpoint…I think their theories hold some ground. It’s just when I saw the stage and studied Geoffrey’s and Vanessa’s reactions, theirs are to me more like the reaction of parents who worried that their son had not let go of his friend’s death. Simply put, I don’t see the signs that Terence was homosexual. The Terence I see was a young man who was still sad about his friend’s death, but to me he seems straight…
Regardless of Terence’s sexuality, I think he had actually let go of Edgar’s death. He was still sad about it, but he didn’t cling to it the way Elizabeth did. There’s more to the reason why I think Terence had actually let go of his grief by the time he arrived at the Pritchards’ place, but explaining more of it risks spoiling the story.
To conclude… I am very grateful that I was able to see another theatre production of Okada Masaki. 誠に感謝しています。Bracken Moor was another beautiful offering from Okada Masaki. To this gaijin with very limited Japanese, its nuances were at times obscured because I could not open the book while I watched the show. Hence, BM didn’t burn me the way Hamlet did, but burned me slowly, it did. Of course, watching Masaki shirtless, sweat flowing down his chest as he hyperventilated under the pale moonlight was a delight to see as well… (and I do want more of those)… but Bracken Moor was also solid because of the warm amber of letting go and healing…. and some hiraeth as well.
I will update this post after or as the 1 September show finishes.
Spoilers update (1 September 2019)
Since Bracken Moor has wrapped up successfully in Osaka today (1 September 2019), I can release the spoilers now.
Actually, those who Google “Bracken Moor” and go to Wikipedia will already find out how it ended and what the twists were. But for those who had not read it, here we go:
Terence actually pretended to be possessed by Edgar’s spirit. The night they arrived at Harold and Elizabeth’s house, Terence found Edgar’s diary in a hidden compartment under the floor of Edgar’s room. Upon realising that Elizabeth had not moved on, Terence staged a show where he portrayed himself as being possessed by Edgar. I think Terence’s goal is truly just to help bring closure to Elizabeth, for clearly he cared for her (more like a boy to his aunt, or something like that). Thus, here we have the similarity with Hamlet’s theme of a play in a play, although the intended goal is different. Hamlet pretended to be crazy to find out the truth about his father’s death; and then we also have ‘The Murder of Gonzago’ as a play in ‘Hamlet’ – thus double plays in a play. On the other hand, Terence’s motive in ‘Bracken Moor’ is different. His motive is helping Elizabeth to let go and heal, for he clearly saw how Elizabeth still clung to her past.
Thus I also think that Terence had actually let go of Edgar by the time he arrived at the Pritchards’ place. Had Terence not moved on from Edgar’s death, he would find it very hard to play a possessed person. It would be too much a burden for him. Yet, the Terence that emerged at the last scene was a normal person, someone who wasn’t disturbed by his own acting. He looked normal and talked normal. Yes, Terence was angry when Harold punched and challenged him, but that reaction is still within normal range. I don’t see a disturbed individual at the end of the play. Terence arrived as a normal young man with a beautiful childhood (except for that one episode where his childhood friend died), he also left the scene as a normal man.
Then we have the question of Terence’s sexuality again. I think I have to watch BM once more to see if there are any signals that Terence was homosexual. I don’t recall any, but I could be wrong. However, there is one thing that made me think that Edgar was the one displaying the homosexual tendencies. In his diary, Edgar said that Terence was the only person who truly understood him. Now, I see that as a normal remark of a child; for a child would be forgiven to think that no one truly understood him. But, in light of the gay theory, I see that Edgar’s comment might actually be interpreted as a sign of him – not Terence – being gay.
So that’s the first twist. The second twist came at the very end after everyone left Harold alone. A scary figure emerged from the dark, screaming “Father!” at Harold.
Yes, it was Edgar’s ghost. Apparently, when Eileen Hanaway (the servant) couldn’t open the door to Edgar’s room, it might have been Edgar stubbornly refused to open the door for her. I also am now inclined to think that it was Edgar himself who guided Terence in finding the dead boy’s diary.
That gave me a chill.
Anyway, I do miss watching Okada Masaki on stage. Watching his normal Terence versus the possessed Terence is a delight, for Masaki portrayed a 12 years old boy beautifully. The way Masaki and Kimura Tae portrayed the scene where Terence pushed Elizabeth into accepting Edgar’s death was… poignant. I wish I have a better mastery of Japanese, thus I can appreciate the nuances better… but I still want to see that scene again.
So, once again, thank you Universe, for allowing me to watch Bracken Moor. ブラッケン・ムーアを感謝しています。
Now, what’s your stage play after this, Masaki?
A Greek tragedy? An old English romance? An Edo era story?... another Shakespeare?
(Oh yes, please for all the above!)
I’d love to see whatever it is.
