[Watching a Play in a Wheelchair] Don't Look for Me Aichi Performance

I visited the Tokai City Arts Theatre for the first time.
It was a very large, beautiful, and impressive theater.

I watched a play called "Don't Look for Me" in the main hall of that theater.

The style of watching from a wheelchair

For someone like me who goes out in a wheelchair, being able to watch a performance "while remaining in my wheelchair" is important.

Since moving to Toyohashi City, I have watched various performances held at the arts theater called PLAT while remaining in my wheelchair.
However, no matter how much experience I gain, the reservation methods for wheelchair areas differ depending on the venue or the organizer, so that experience doesn't help elsewhere.

However, for those who might have found this article by searching for [Watching a Play in a Wheelchair], I would like to write down the procedure for obtaining tickets this time.

Procedure for obtaining wheelchair seat tickets

1. Inquire by phone at the venue
From past experiences, I have learned that calling the venue first is the smoothest way to proceed. Calling the Tokai City Arts Theatre this time was also the right decision.

2. Obtain tickets
(From here on, I act according to the results of the phone inquiry.)
I purchase general seats on the release date via Ticket Pia.
This performance was popular, and the seats I managed to get 10 minutes after sales started were in the 6th row of the center section on the 2nd floor.
I bought two tickets, including one for my husband who would be my caregiver, for the 2nd floor.

3. Call the venue
I was instructed to call again once I had secured the tickets.
At this point, they verified the tickets, and I sent one ticket to the Tokai City Arts Theatre.

They exchanged that ticket for a "wheelchair seat" ticket and mailed it back to my home.

By following steps 1, 2, and 3, I had the tickets in hand by September.

My husband's seat was on the 2nd floor, and my wheelchair seat was on the 1st floor.
I was told that if the seat next to the wheelchair area was empty on the day of the performance, we might be able to sit together, but it was not guaranteed.

I felt a bit uneasy.
When I went to the venue, I understood why I was given that guidance.

Flow of the day

Since the parking spaces with the wheelchair symbol could not be reserved and were first-come, first-served,
I arrived an hour and a half before the doors opened and was able to park.
There were four spaces, but I got the very last one (;'∀')

1. You can line up at the same time as other attendees for entry
Depending on the venue, you might be told to arrive 30 minutes before the doors open.

2. Staff will guide you after passing through the gate
After passing through the ticket verification gate, I was guided by staff to the wheelchair seating area.

3. There are four spaces on both the left and right sides where you can watch while remaining in your wheelchair.
I was the first wheelchair user. After securing one space on the stage left side, the staff set up a simple chair next to my wheelchair.
That becomes the seat for the caregiver.However, they mentioned that if a wheelchair user shows up on the day without a reservation, they might need to move, and in that case, they would be moved to a seat on the second floor.

During the 30 minutes between the doors opening and the start of the performance, one other wheelchair user arrived, but they were placed on the stage right side, not on our side.

As a result, no other wheelchair users arrived after that, and my spouse and I were able to watch the play sitting side-by-side.

Since I didn't go to the 6th row of the second floor to watch, this is just my imagination, but it might have had a different kind of appeal, being able to see the entire stage from the very back of the second floor.

That said...

But still, I am very grateful that I was able to watch from the 10th row.

Impressions of the play

My motivation for wanting to go to the play at the Tokai City Arts Theatre this time was impure.

I wanted to see Kyoko Koizumi and Yumi Kawai in person.

That was my feeling. It was more like, 'I'd be lucky if I could get a ticket.'

Having actually gone to see it,
I felt the intensity from all the actors directly, not to mention the beauty of Yumi Kawai's posture and
the beauty that Kyoko Koizumi has acquired with age.

What I thought was, 'Live acting really does give you such incredible power.'

Since there are still a few performances left until the final show, I will avoid sharing my thoughts on the story, but it was a stage play that made me think about the meaning of words and the boundary between lies and truth.

Thoughts on the generation that watches stage plays

After becoming a full-time housewife and moving to Toyohashi, I became a member of the Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT, making it easier (for my husband) to secure tickets, and I have been able to see more theater performances than ever before.

When I was a child, my mother seemed to like watching stage plays, and she would take me to musicals that children could enjoy about once or twice a year.
In my 30s, I had a friend who would take me to see the Shiki Theatre Company.
In my 40s, after the daughter of a friend in Osaka joined the troupe, I even went to see Takarazuka.

However, there were also years when I didn't watch anything at all.

Now that I am able to see some kind of stage play every month, the thing I feel and notice every time I go is that 'there are no young people.'

My daughter and son seem interested in stage plays.
I feel like they have mentioned wanting to go at some point.

When I think about why I can't take the two of them, I feel that there are indeed hurdles there.

Tickets go on sale months in advance, and whether or not you can access the purchase site on the release day is one thing, but if you try to buy two or more consecutive tickets, you might end up not being able to buy them at all, so if you try to buy them two at a time, they are often sold out by the time you access the site for the second time.

The difficulty of purchasing multiple tickets, and the fact that I feel anxious if I don't sense a strong desire from them to 'want to see it,' are also factors.

Live stage plays require you to be certain you can go on the day.

Depending on my physical condition, there is a possibility that I might suddenly be unable to go.
When that happens, I end up thinking that my husband is the only one I can be selfish with.

That is my situation, but what if we look at it from the perspective of young people?
When I was in my 20s, I might not have had the passion to go get tickets months in advance.
Even in my 30s and 40s, I probably wouldn't have had the passion to go get them myself, citing work or child-rearing as reasons.

When I look around before watching a play, everyone is from my own generation

Perhaps it is because I have entered my senior years and am finally able to face my own "likes" head-on that I feel this way, even when I look around at those around me.

At the same time, I also think that perhaps I should have made time to visit the theater when I was younger.

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