2020/08/08 Stage Play "Red Demon" Review

Performance Title: "Red Demon"
Theater: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Theater East
Written and Directed by: Hideki Noda
Cast: Maara Morgan, Hiroshi Rokukawa, Yuta Matoba, Itsuki Kawarada, and others
Performance Period: 7/24 - 8/16
Personal Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Actually, this was my first time seeing a play directed by Hideki Noda.
The cast was divided into teams A through D, and I watched Team C.
It was a 95-minute performance where I was simply overwhelmed by the energetic and dynamic acting from the cast. While the overall level of acting was extremely high, I was particularly captivated throughout by the transparent performance of Maara Morgan, who played the heroine, "That Woman." It was wonderful.
The themes of this work are "discrimination" and "prejudice," and these issues have become quite apparent in the COVID era. It was brilliant how the production cleverly incorporated elements like "Abenomasks" to dramatize these points.
The "Red Demon" is the target of discrimination in this story, but there are words that the demon and the humans share, and words that they do not. The script was so deep and well-crafted that it made me feel pained to realize that the words they couldn't understand were the ones that mattered.
It is a masterpiece that I am truly glad I was able to see as a live stage performance at this time.

[Reason for Watching]

I had never seen a work directed by Hideki Noda before, so I decided this was the one to see.
Also, "Red Demon" is a play that an acquaintance of mine who is involved in theater had performed before, so I already had a vague idea of the content.

[Story/Content] (*Contains spoilers)

There was a seaside village called "Hama." An older brother named Tonbi (Yuta Matoba) and his younger sister, known as "That Woman" (Maara Morgan), lived there. Because they were outsiders who had moved in, the villagers kept their distance from them.
A man named Mizukane (Itsuki Kawarada), who wants to marry "That Woman," comes to the house where she and Tonbi live. Mizukane tries to woo her with lies, but she refuses to open up to him at all.
A monster called a "Red Demon" (Hiroshi Rokukawa) arrives in the village of "Hama." The villagers are terrified and cause an uproar. "That Woman" happens to encounter the Red Demon and is terrified. The Red Demon does not understand Japanese and speaks an unintelligible language, so they cannot communicate. However, "That Woman" eventually realizes that the Red Demon is actually a kind-hearted creature who does not eat people.

An incident occurs where a villager's baby is taken by the Red Demon. While the villagers are terrified that their own babies might be taken next, "That Woman," Tonbi, and Mizukane go to approach the Red Demon to persuade him to return the baby. They encounter the Red Demon holding the baby, and "That Woman" gradually begins to communicate with him. She makes an effort to understand the Red Demon's language and successfully persuades him to return the baby by speaking in his tongue. She thought that by helping the villagers, she would finally be accepted.

But that was not the case. The villagers ignored her help and attacked the "Blue Cave" where the Red Demon lived, intending to exterminate him. "That Woman" and the others desperately tried to stop them and headed to the "Blue Cave" as well. What they saw in the "Blue Cave" was a fantastical world spreading across the entire cave, a place that brought great peace to the heart.

Although the villagers stopped attacking once they realized the Red Demon wasn't a monster that preyed on people, they still hadn't reached the point of accepting him. Meanwhile, "That Woman" deepened her bond with the Red Demon. She tried to understand his language, and he tried to understand Japanese. They discovered that the word "Daiji" (important/serious matter) had the same pronunciation and meaning for both the demon and the humans. However, the word "Mukou" (the other side/beyond), referring to the sea from which the Red Demon came, did not seem to exist in his language. It was as if the Red Demon had no words for the future, hope, or dreams.
Mizukane, seeing "That Woman" deepening her bond with the Red Demon, became jealous. Rumors even spread among the villagers that she and the Red Demon had "done it."

Glass bottles containing paper began to wash up in the village of "Hama" in large numbers. In reality, these bottles were messages from the Red Demon's companions on ships in the open ocean, seeking a signal from him. If the Red Demon gave a signal from the village, his companions would land all at once. Fearing that the village of "Hama" would be taken over by a horde of Red Demons, the villagers decided to execute the Red Demon and "That Woman," who was close to him.

On the night before their execution, the four of them—the Red Demon, "That Woman," Tonbi, and Mizukane—take a boat and leave the village of "Hama." The four of them drift on the sea, suffering from a lack of food. It is especially serious for the Red Demon, who can only eat flowers. Eventually, the Red Demon dies on the boat. "That Woman" is also in a near-death state, her consciousness fading. Mizukane and Tonbi eat the Red Demon's flesh. They lie to "That Woman," telling her it is shark fin, and feed it to her.

The three of them—"That Woman," Tonbi, and Mizukane—survive and reach land. When "That Woman" is being cared for on the land they reached, she is served shark fin soup, but the taste is completely different from the shark fin she ate on the boat. Through this, she realizes that the "shark fin" she ate on the boat was actually the flesh of the Red Demon.
She had been lied to by Mizukane and the others, and for once, she had believed the lie. It wasn't the demon that ate the humans, but the humans who ate the demon. "That Woman" took her own life the day after next.

The ending of the story was quite tragic. It feels like a fairy tale, but it strongly reminded me of racial discrimination and the human discrimination seen in the COVID era, making it feel like it wasn't just someone else's problem. It made me think that humans are truly terrifying creatures. No matter how much we try to think of others without discrimination, once we are in a crisis, we can only think of ourselves. I think it is a masterpiece that mercilessly depicts the essence of humanity. I am glad I watched it.

[Worldview & Direction] (*Contains spoilers)

Despite being a bare stage, there were many ingenious directorial choices, which is exactly what you would expect from Hideki Noda. I will look at it in the order of props, lighting, sound, and direction.

The stage was surrounded by audience seating on all four sides, and I felt the layout made excellent use of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Theater East's structure. Due to COVID-19 precautions, transparent vinyl sheets were placed on all four sides of the stage. Outside of that, there were nearly 80 seats (I'm not certain of the exact number) lined up. Regarding props, what left an impression on me were the round table-like platforms; the legs and the flat tabletop could be detached and used for various purposes depending on the scene. For example, the direction representing being on a boat was achieved by standing on these platforms. When the actors performed the action of rowing, the platform would tilt, and I loved how that instability effectively conveyed being on a boat. Other than that, they were also used as a cage to try and trap the Red Demon. Also, the direction where glass bottles containing paper were hung from the ceiling left an impression on me. It was very beautiful. Additionally, the scene in the beginning where the villagers appear while striking bamboo poles against the ground was very impressive, dynamic, and wonderful.

As for the lighting, I was amazed at how well the lighting could make a bare stage shine. I was particularly impressed by the scene where the villagers and those women invade the "Blue Cave"; the scene where vibrant yellow, blue, and green colors were scattered across the stage floor was very fantastical and I loved it. I also liked the sunset lighting in the latter half of the play when the villagers discover the Red Demon's purpose for landing on the village of "Hama" and his execution is decided. The orange sunset lighting that shone so brightly was also very wonderful.

I think music played here and there, but I had the impression that there wasn't much prominent background music. That just goes to show that the actors' performances alone were enough to make the play worth watching. Also, many sound effects were used, and the sound of the waves left a particularly strong impression on me.

This work had many directorial choices that really tested the actors' physical expression, and it was a play that was also very worth watching as a dance performance. For example, the scene in the beginning where the villagers run around while striking bamboo poles against the ground was overwhelming, but it also looked like a dangerous performance that could lead to accidents if one step went wrong. I suppose they must have practiced many times to ensure they didn't get injured. Also, I forgot the context of the scene, but there was a scene where the villagers were waving their hands around and shouting. It was a scene that reminded me of Kim Itoh's directed work, "Do you dance before you speak? Or do you speak before you dance?". Furthermore, the movement that appears near the end, where the villagers form two lines and repeatedly step back and lean forward, was a directorial choice that embodied the waves of a quiet sea, and it left a huge impression on me. It was a performance that reminded me somewhat of Amayadori's dance performances.

[Cast & Characters] (*Contains spoilers)

The acting ability of the cast in this production was truly high; the level was very high. I never got bored; in fact, I was able to enjoy their performances with rapt attention. I will focus particularly on the main cast: That Woman, Red Demon, Tonbi, and Mizukane.

First of all, Maara Morgan, who gave a passionate performance as That Woman; I was moved by her performance, which was so full of vitality that it could be called the MVP of this production. Just watching her act makes you immerse yourself in the work, and I think her performance had that much charm to attract people. Her earnest and dignified acting gave me a feeling of a Ghibli heroine (like Nausicaä or San), and her performance, which was full of transparency and beauty but also felt resilient, was truly wonderful.

Next, Hiroshi Rokkawa, who played the Red Demon; even though everyone else was in white-like costumes, he was the only one wearing a full-body red tights-like costume, and his presence and sense of being an outsider were undeniable, which brought a very positive meaning to the work. And above all, that unique way of delivering lines—it's not that he's speaking a specific language, but it gradually starts to sound like he's speaking English. Only then does the Red Demon's existence change from the audience's perspective into something close and understandable. Rokkawa's performance, which was able to embody such delicate direction, was truly wonderful.

Yuta Matoba, who played That Woman's older brother, Tonbi, also gave a wonderful performance. His way of speaking was very unique, and he made such foolish and oblivious remarks that he was responsible for the comedy elements of this work. There were also many monologue scenes by him, and for some reason, they left quite an impression.

A male actor I really came to like in this production was Itsuki Kawarada, who played Mizukane. Mizukane is a contrasting existence to the Red Demon; while the Red Demon is an existence that remains true to himself without lies or deception, Mizukane is an existence full of deceit, so to speak, who lines up only lies and pretty words to try and seduce That Woman because he wants to sleep with her. However, personally, I felt quite a lot of charm in this Mizukane as well. His performance of rattling off words logically while twisting his hands was very addictive and left an impression. Also, his face was striking, and his appearance with a beard was very memorable.

There were many other attractive actors among the villagers besides the main cast who had high acting skills; it's almost a waste that they were playing nameless roles. Kotaro Yagi's performance of powerfully striking bamboo poles against the ground while drenched in sweat, Satoshi Kamimura's monologue scene, Hayaka Mizuguchi's motherly acting when her baby was taken and when it was returned, and the performance of the female elder (I forgot who it was), all left an impression on me and made me want to see more of their acting.

[Depth of the Stage] (*Contains spoilers)

"Humans are the most terrifying." That is the impression I had after finishing watching this work.

Humans are weak creatures; they cannot survive without forming groups. They form groups to justify and protect themselves. And when an outsider enters, they build barriers and walls to keep them at a distance. The villagers of "Hama" treated the Red Ogre as an outsider and despised him. This was because they wanted to protect their own community.
When such conservative thinking becomes extreme, it leads to the idea of punishing or even killing the Red Ogre. The Red Ogre did nothing wrong; he was simply different from the villagers of "Hama." That difference creates discrimination and conflict.
What is even more terrifying is that when humans are placed in extreme situations, they will sacrifice others to save their own lives. The Woman, Tonbi, and Mizukane survived by eating the flesh of the dead Red Ogre. In a sense, they were just like the villagers. To avoid an extreme situation and to protect themselves, they sacrificed a creature different from them. The Woman could not bear such a cruel reality and took her own life.

And what is even more terrifying is that this is actually happening in reality, and in fact, with the onset of the COVID era, the terrible human nature of "discrimination" and "prejudice" has been exposed even more.
We do not want COVID patients to enter our country; we try to exclude those infected with COVID. This is likely a form of discrimination that has sprouted because the idea of living together by holding hands in normal times has been superseded by the notion of prioritizing ourselves over others, as the extreme situation approaches and our own safety is threatened.
It makes me keenly aware of how fragile the society that claims to be international, global, and moving forward hand-in-hand really is, and how weak humans truly are.

That is precisely why I am glad I was able to see this production of "Akaoni" at this very moment. And I feel its message deep in my bones, painfully so.
The play even incorporates a scene using "Abenomasks" as a motif for society under the COVID situation. We, who are terrified of COVID, are just like the villagers of "Hama."
How can humans live in peace without "discrimination" or "prejudice"? This work, rooted in such deep themes, is undoubtedly a masterpiece.

[Photo Source]

Cover photo: https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/18104910/
In-play photos: https://natalie.mu/stage/news/389082