Churchill Fellowship Part One- KYUSHU

This is a little movie I have made of my time on Kyushu (the south island of Japan) with Kazenoko Children's Theatre Company.
Footage includes:
Furato Burato Kagoshima Tour
Clown Workshop with Kazenoko Kyushu
Yamagasa Festival
Translation Routine at Kodomogekijou Conference
Nan Nan Nan-de Man Nagasaki Tour

Mothering Children's Theatre

On the weekend I found myself at a very unique gathering in Kagoshima, Japan. It was a gathering of Mothers, belonging to an association known as the Kodomo Gekijou (The Children’s Theatre), who had assembled for their annual meeting to discuss their progress in helping children to lead happy lives through providing access to workshops, theatre shows and other interactive artistic experiences.

The thing that all these mothers have in common is a passion for children’s theatre and particularly for companies like Kazenoko that have been around since they were children themselves. Every year they invite theatre companies that have a long history of creating theatre for children to their conference, keen to connect and get their input. This year Douke Gekidan (specialising in political theatre for high schoolers) from North Kyushu, Ningyo Gekidan from Osaka and Musubi Gekidan from Nagoya (both specialising in puppetry) were among the companies present. It was a great opportunity for me to meet artists from other companies in Japan making theatre for children but also to get to understand the unique power of the Kodomo Gekijou in Kyushu.

Kodomo Gekijou, once operating as a very small, grass roots organisation, accessing an audience in the community that the theatre companies would not normally have had access have recently grown into an organisation that acts as a producer, taking a fee to organise performance opportunities. Whilst in some parts of Kyushu, some performances could not take place without them, in other parts of the island, they are acting as a middleman, and costing the theatre companies 5% of profits. The theatre companies are hoping that Kodomo Gekijou will start looking to attract corporate sponsorship to subsidise these performances, particularly those that are for smaller audiences. Needless to say, the dialogue between the theatre companies and the Kodomo Gekijou is open and therefore, they have a healthy relationship that will sustain into the future. It was a very fruitful conference for this reason.

It made me reflect on the touring mechanisms in place in Australia and there is no doubt, we do not have anything as grass roots as Kodomo Gekijou.

On the Sunday evening, I was witness to an extraordinary performance of Furato Burato (The Kazenoko Kyushu Two- Hander, that has been in repertoire for 4 years). It was the show’s final performance, produced by Kazenoko Kyushu in association with Kokomo Gekijou at a community hall. Final because the actors that created it with director, Asano-san, both have to leave the show for different reasons: Kibo-san (father of 3 under the age of 5) is changing profession and Kariya-san is taking on the management role of Kazenoko Kyushu President.

The mothers of Kodomo Gekijou in Kagoshima were instrumental in the development of the piece; providing feedback for the new work following each tour to Kagoshima and developed a very strong relationship with the piece. By the end of the performance, many of the mothers were in tears. That night, feeling like a bit of an intruder (but made to feel VERY welcome), I attended a party held at a local Izakaya (bar) hosted by the Kodomo Gekihou for the Furato Burato creative team. It was a beautiful night, and one by one, everyone spoke passionately about the show; expressing their initial doubts, their gradual satisfaction with the development of the piece and finally, their great sorrow that it is all over, and that they will not see the actors that they have become so familiar with on stage anymore.

To say the very least, anyone thinking that Japanese women are short on opinions, would change their minds after listening to the speeches made that night. Most left at the reasonable hour of midnight, some carrying sleeping children home on their shoulders. But it was a special night for the creative team, which went on into the small hours, aided by Karakoe and fuelled by a cheap Nomihodai (all you can drink).

A Japanese Comedy with European Flavour

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.