Okada Masaki Monogatari

Gekidan Year One , where I got a glimpse of Masaki's life at home... Haven’t been updating this blog this year because… well, COVID-19 happens. So, as with many of us during this insane COVID-19 lockdown time, I had to go into lockdown. In Japan, Okada Masaki also has to do the same thing. I’ve been wondering, honestly, how he fares in this crazy time. Does he abide to the social distancing rule? Does he stay at home? So, when Masaki banded with three Japanese actors to form an online theatre group, I was so excited. Joining Emoto Tokio, Ochiai Motoki and Kaku Kento, Masaki explored the current daily world during lockdown. Their first show was uploaded to YouTube yesterday (available until 21 May – so watch it now!) and was directed by Katō Takuya.

Kuroki Haru (Ophelia) and Okada Masaki (Hamlet) promoting the WOWOW broadcast for 31 August 2019 日本語の本文もあります。最後まで、スクロるしてください。Wisteriaさん、ありがとうございました！ Pardon my absence for the last few months; my real life prevented me from doing anything Masaki-related (translation とか, making a new MV とか…). But in late September, Wisteria-san sent me her transcription of an interview that Okada Masaki and Kuroki Haru made for the Hamlet WOWOW broadcast, and I really like that interview. Hence, here’s my translation of that interview transcript. Wisteria-san was actually more than capable of translating their interview into English herself, but I specifically asked her to send me her transcription in Kanji and kana, so that I can practice my Japanese. Hence, any mistakes in this translation is entirely mine, except for some parts where I’ve asked Wisteria-san for help, for those parts proved to be too difficult for me to understand. While I understand that most overseas fans have not seen Haml...

I have translated the interview of WOWOW for "Hamlet", uploaded on 29 August 2019. Thanks to Wisteria-san for the translation consultation…誠に感謝しています… Okada Masaki as Hamlet (photo by WOWOW) Okada Masaki: ‘Hamlet’ is a work that will remain in my memory 2019/08/29 11:00  WOWOW On 31 August 2019 (from 9 pm), WOWOW will broadcast “Hamlet”, a stage play where Okada Masaki garnered attention for challenging the difficult role of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s masterpiece.  So far, Okada had taken his first plunge on stage plays with Ninagawa Yukio’s “Total Eclipse” production and acquired more experience with the likes of “Go Go Boys, Go Go Heaven” and “Ningen Gowasan”. Captured in the same fantasy, I watched the enthusiastic performance of the protagonist Hamlet’s revenge and madness. This time, I interviewed Okada while the performance was still on-going. Q: As your first Shakespeare work, how did you feel when you received the offer to do the role of Hamlet? I w...

Kuroki Haru (Ophelia) and Okada Masaki (Hamlet) reminding viewers that it was only one day before the recorded Hamlet aired at WOWOW  This is my observation while re-watching Simon Godwin’s Hamlet recorded on 22 May 2019 in Bunkamura Shibuya Toky o. WOWOW aired the recording on Saturday, 31 August 2019. Special thanks to my dear friends for providing me with the recording.  It was like finding love again. As soon as I heard the opening music, I remembered once again why I fell in love with this production. It was hiraeth all over again… WOWOW videographer team and editing team definitely did a great job piecing the scenes on this show (they did a good job as well with Ningen Gowasan, by the way). It evoked that hiraeth feeling, the desire to go back to that moment in time, but of course it cannot be… Yet, the recording still gives me the magic and brings me back my love to Hamlet, in addition to giving me more details that I have missed because I was too far away fr...

The Hamlet 2019 stage in Bunkamura Shibuya Tokyo (source: Nagashima Keizō ), because I don't have a photo of the Bracken Moor stage... In the light of the minimum curtain calls I witnessed during the Bracken Moor soiree on 16 August 2019, I wrote this curtain call courtesy. The English version is after the Japanese version. My gratitude to Wisteria-san for translating the English version to Japanese. Wisteriaさん、翻訳するのことは誠に感謝しています… 先週、私にとって最後の『ブラッケン・ムーア』夜公演で、怒りが爆発してしまいました。ツイッターにも、自分のブログの『ブラッケン・ムーア』レビューにもそのことを吐き出してしまいました。理由は簡単です。何人か（たまたまでしょうが年配の方々でした）がカーテンコール中に劇場から出ようとし、そのためにその夜公演のカーテンコールは前日鑑賞した2回の公演のように4回のカーテンコールは行われず3回のみになったからです。怒りを爆発させてしまったことについては、もっと感情をうまくコントロールすべきだったとちょっと後悔しています。でも、私の怒りは正当なものだったと思っています。 なぜカーテンコールが重要なのか、もう少し説明させてください。カーテンコールの最中に席を立つ人をもう見なくてすむようになるかもしれないという期待を込めて。少なくとも、どうしても席を立たなければならないのは、見苦しい事態になる前にトイレに行かなくちゃというような場合であって、カーテンコールの作法を知らずに席を立つのではないように。 端的に言って、あなたが今見終わった演劇には、監督、キャスト全員、メークアップ・アーティスト、衣装デザイナーなど制作チーム全員の総力が注がれています。舞台演劇やミュージカルは、エンドクレジット中に席を立って...

Okada Masaki by Tomita Nozomi ( Entertainment Station ) I finally finished translating a July 2019 interview of Okada Masaki for the Bracken Moor stage play. The interview is rather long, thus I'm very happy I finished translating it. Enjoy! 日本語の分は英語の後で。  Okada Masaki’s new theatre frontier “Bracken Moor: the Ghost of the Wasteland”. As his love for the beloved theatre continues, what is his acting path from here on? 3 July 2019 Entertainment Station Wednesday, 14 August is the Japanese premiere of the suspense drama “Bracken Moor - The Ghost of the Wasteland” (hereafter “Bracken Moor”), written by the British playwright Alexi Kay Campbell, the winner of the Laurence Olivier Award. The play will be performed at the Theater Creation with previews from Friday, 2 August  to Sunday, 4 August 2019. This time, the Japanese version will be directed by Kamimura Satoshi from the Literary Theatre. He is a director who has attracted attention as he won the Best Director Aw...

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). ...