Nanige ni Bunshigeki 2024 Inaugural Commemorative Series #3 [Toko Sawada]
Writers, Taking the Stage
Writers (authors) who make their way in the world with nothing but a pen, along with their friends, are gathering to put on a play.
While the Bunshigeki (writers' theater) has a history spanning over 130 years, this is the first inaugural performance in Osaka in a full 66 years. Because it's an amateur production, we might be earnest, or perhaps we'll be flustered and panicking?
……Such is the wonderful project, "Nanige ni Bunshigeki".
We will be publishing essays by the writers who will be standing on stage in order!!
The third installment is by Toko Sawada.
Please enjoy!!
The Destination of Memories
Text: Toko Sawada
――I've gotten myself into a real mess.
Lately, I've been muttering that almost every day. It goes without saying that I'm talking about "Nanige ni Bunshigeki".
Twenty-seven years ago, the Japan Mystery Writers Association 50th Anniversary Bunshigeki, "The Twenty Faces We Loved," was performed just once at the Yomiuri Hall in Tokyo. As a university student who loved novels, the stage featuring forty-three writers was something I longed to see, but the tickets sold out in a mere ten minutes. Fortunately, the play was later broadcast on BS, and as I set the recording, I was literally glued to the television.
It was already luxurious enough with a script by Masaki Tsuji and direction by Masao Yamamura, but with the famous duo of Kenzo Kitakata and Arimasa Osawa at the top, the authors of the novels I was reading at the time appeared one after another. In an era when there were few opportunities to interact directly with writers, the excitement in the audience was tremendous. When Natsuhiko Kyogoku delivered his famous Kyogokudo catchphrase, there were even high-pitched cheers. Having said that, I was also shouting "Kyaaa" in front of the TV.
The VHS tape from that time later went missing after I lent it to a friend. It can't be helped. I thought that for that stage, it was more fitting to be spoken of through memories and word of mouth rather than clear footage... and that was when this current Bunshigeki project came up.
As Makate Asai has already written, I was there when the topic of the Bunshigeki first came up. There was no lie in my agreement of "That sounds good. It sounds fun," as I recalled the mystery writers' theater. I just hadn't expected it to actually happen, nor that I would end up running around like this as part of the administrative staff.
However, with less than half a year until the actual performance, as talk of scripts and rehearsals flies about, I've started to feel an attachment to that sigh of "I've gotten myself into a real mess." Time flows away surely. Just as "The Twenty Faces We Loved" is, the "Nanige ni Bunshigeki" inaugural performance will eventually become the past, and the day will soon come when I look back on this busyness with nostalgia.
After all, the deadlines for my main job keep piling up, and the preparations for the play only get busier as the days go by. But for now, I think I'll just enjoy the chaos.
■■■Cast■■■
Hiroyuki Kurokawa, Makate Asai, Akira Higashiyama, Toko Sawada, Michi Ichiho, Hideto Ueda, Yoshinobu Kadoi, Masaki Kinoshita, Masako Kurokawa (Painter), Tatsunari Kobayashi (Kodansha), Megumi Semiya, Nobuko Takagi, Kaoru Tamaoka, Noritaka Dodo (Kinokuniya Company), Kanae Minato, Takashi Yano
8/1, Cast decided!
☆Notice☆
Toko Sawada's latest book "Kaguyo" is now on sale! Believe it or not, all copies are signed!! Please check it out at your local bookstore!!
Date and Time: November 16, 2024 (Saturday) 16:00 start
Venue: Sankei Hall Breeze
All seats reserved 8,000 yen
[Organizer/Production] Nanige ni Bunshigeki 2024 Executive Committee
For details on Nanige ni Bunshigeki, please visit the website above! Be sure to check it out♪
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