Today I am travelling to Oshima with Kazenoko Kyushu for a very special performance of a show called Furato Burato. It is a two -hander which has been in repertoire for four years, devised and performed by Kariya-san and Kibo-san and devised and directed by Asano-san. The show today is a very special one because Oshima, inspite of its name which means, Big Island, is actually a very small island with tiny primary school that only has four students. The set is loaded onto a small boat and we are thankful for the good weather and calm seas as we travel across to the island. While the actors set up in the school gym, I walk around the island and see the small village which is made up of about forty houses. Apparently there is a population of 220 on the island...`So where are all the people?` I wonder.. `And why are only four of them school children?`.
At about ten minutes before one o`clock, when the show is set to begin, my questions are answered. Very elderly people start to trickle into the hall. In spite of the fact that one old lady is almost bent over double, she giggles and dances with her fan like a school girl. She even flirts with the actors- there must be something good in the water on this island. The oldies take their seats and next the young mothers start to arrive, all seem to have two or three children in tow, all under the age of four. Everyone knows everyone. I watch the `show` as I sit on the tatami mat, waiting for the theatre `show` to commence. And last but not least, we are joined by the four school children and their teachers.
It begins! Made for Children aged 2, 3 and 4, the show appeals to the young and old. Kariya- san plays Furato who arrives and sets up to do his ‘show’ (which consists of a series of bad magic tricks) and is soon interrupted by Burato, played by Kibo-san, who wants to do his show in the same space. And so the competition for audience attention begins. It is a classic straight man funny man clown show, but very original at the same time. It is a series of games/ routines ranging from making shapes out of plastic ‘kasa’ (umbrella) bags to creating tunes using a variety of saucepans and ping pong balls. The status of the two clowns tosses and turns and finds a natural harmony culminating in the telling of a story about a young snail that is too scared to go outside his shell and one day is forced to and gets lost and has to face his biggest fear, in the shape of a huge snail eating grasshopper! The story is told using mask and puppetry all made from origami- very Japanese and very colourful. Kazenoko are masters of image theatre.
The entire show is beautifully linked by music composed by the prolific Magario- san, who has composed for a number of Kazenoko Kyushu and Tokyo shows. The music gives the show a European 30s/ 40s street theatre feel. Pre-recorded, it emerges magically from Furato’s Cart, often with the actors singing along.
The set is packed up, just as it was set up- as part of the show, the show has run for an hour and the children have not lost focus once.
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