This is a translation of Sakakihara Kazuko’s review of A-“R”ex written for Takarazuka Precious, originally published on December 19, 2007. (Archived link used due to the age of the article)
Sakakihara Kazuko’s Opening Night and Event Review
Subtle yet tough performer, Sena Jun, stars in Moon Troupe’s A-“R”ex
Umeda Arts Theatre Drama City, Moon Troupe opening night (December 14)
A-“R”ex – Why Alexander the Great kept pushing forward on the path to rule the world
A-“R”ex is Ogita Kouichi’s first original drama for Takarazuka in two years.
As a non-Grand Theatre drama, it’s his first in seven years, since the 2000 Bow Hall Profile of a Saint (although of course he’s written many works outside of Takarazuka during this time). While I don’t want to say that it’s because of this, that due to the long gap he can only write plays up to this capacity, but there are good and bad points about this work.
First off, everything about it is a far cry from the splendour expected from a revue. While Sena Jun’s costumes are lovely, they’re not at all extravagant. And although there’s a lot of music, there are few dance numbers. The set design is in earth colors, and although it gives off an impresson of simplistic, primitive power, it’s also a somewhat desolate landscape.
Furthermore—and this is my largest criticism-all the drama takes place inside the characters, especially Alex. Sena Jun, playing Alex, is given an enormous number of lines and, rather like Hamlet, is constantly asking questions of the characters around him. But it doesn’t seem as if he really wants the answers. Rather he is trying to figure out his own mindset and spur himself on.
In any case, here is the outline of the play. It begins with the actress playing Athena calling for all the actors. The musical “The Tale of Alexander the Great” is about to start. The protagonist is the king of Macedonia, Alexander III, or Alex, and the actor who plays him.
Alex is worried about whether or not to continue the war his deceased father had been waging. His mother Olympias, while she hated her husband and doted on her son, decides to use Alex for the good of the nation after her husband’s death. Also, the guardian gods of Greece are plotting to use Alex, prince of the remote territory of Macedonia, to head the Greek effort to rule the world. They send the goddess of victory, Nike, as their messenger. Watched over by Nike, who can only exist where war and battle is taking place, Alex advances through Egypt, Persia, and India on the path of conquest.
This play has a really long subtitle. While it says “Why Alexander the Great kept pushing forward on the path to rule the world” the opinion of the play seems to be that the “Alexander the Great” part could be overwritten.
For example, if it were “Why actors keep pushing forward on the path of acting”, or if it was “Sena Jun” or “humanity” or “Ogita Kouichi” it wouldn’t really matter. In short, while this work can be enjoyed as Sena Jun’s or Ogita Kouichi’s treatise, it can also be seen as a commentary on the arts, or culture, or life in general. No matter which, if you forget the story and let yourself by moved just by the words, you can understand that it tells of one person’s struggle within theirself. The line “to stop would be to die” shows a person’s acceptance of the harsh realities of life.
Within that reality, the figure of Alex (Sena Jun), who soliloquises over and over that rather than “being swept along by cruelty” he will “choose the path of cruelty” is both tragic and noble. Seeing that nobility, the audience finds themselves uplifted whether they want to be or not as they follow the story.
As in the previous work she performed in, MAHOROBA, Sena Jun, who plays Alex, has the role of a hero who is chosen and pushed into battle by the gods. The difference between these two plays is that Ousu is moved by his emotions, while Alex is moved by his logic and intelligence. This is the difference between the worldviews of Sha Tamae and Ogita Kouichi, and the way Sena Jun has presented this duality is fascinating. As Alex struggles within his psyche in the world Ogita Kouichi has created, Sena Jun seeks a sincere performance within herself. She conveys subtly yet clearly the internal struggle of Alex’s strength of will and personal strength against the hesitation and anguish caused by his starkly rational way of looking at the world. Above all, the way she can make the dialogue, so deeply endowed with the playwright’s thoughts, seem to be her own sincere words is deeply moving. To take on the role of Alex, Sena Jun is tough in every meaning of the word.
Ayano Kanami’s Nike is strong yet innocent. Wearing wings and armor that are suitable to the role of Nike, she is a light-hearded existence (despite the system she dwells in) who watches over Alex. While she has an angelic purity to her, since she is the goddess of victory she is ferocious at the same time. In the scene where she sings “slay them all” one can feel the power of her cheerful cruelty. While Ayano Kanami seems to have been born to play this sort of fanatical priestess, as it is very rare for a Takarazuka heroine to be presented in this way I am glad that she had the chance to exhibit her talent in this field.
Kiriya Hiromu’s role of Dionysus carries many different metaphors. While by nature he is the patron deity of wine, fine arts, and entertainment, as well as the god who represents intoxication and frenzy, in this work he controls both the people of Macedonia and Alex’s mother Olympias as the object of their fanatical worship. Dionysus pretends to join forces with Alex, then acts to overthrow his rationality and tempt him into an escape. In short, he is Alex’s internal enemy, perhaps even a fantasy born out of Alex’s thoughts. Kiriya’s performance mixes the multi-layered metaphor of Dionysus with the devilish attitude of a cult leader, taking over the shadows of the narrative.
While Izumo Aya, as Athena, serves as the story’s navigator, she is also one of the deities controlling Alex. The main artistic quality of her performance is that she combines the coldness of a divine existence with an attitude of tolerance. She seems to exist on the border of the story and gives off an impression of great power.
The role of Alex’s mother is Yashiro Kou’s last as a member of Takarazuka. Olympias is an appropriately large role and she was also given plenty of songs. However, perhaps because this is such an emotional character, on opening night she was still displaying some hesitation, and I would prefer to see her strive harder to portray the image of am intense Grecian woman.
Ban Akira plays both Alex’s father, who dies suddenly while still fulfilling his ambitions, as well as Darius, king of Persia. She provides the needed brightness and sensuality to the role and I feel that casting her in this position added to the realism of the story.
The role of the scholar Aristotle, who also provides academic explanations of the story, is played by Kitajima Mami. He feels a bit out of place in the drama, and might be more interesting if he was a little more cynical.
Alex’s younger syster Cleopatra, who forfeits her own identity, wanders about like the mad Ophelia. This role was played by Asahana Rinka, who is about to retire, and it’s a pity to lose a musumeyaku who can sing and act so well.
In this play the “hippies” provide supporting roles as well as filling out the crowd scenes. The female hippies are played by Otoki Sunao, Amano Hotaru, Asahana Rinka, and Shirahana Remi. Otoki has a solo as the Persian diva Thais. Amano was amusingly proud in her role as Alex’s childhood friend, a Persian noblewoman. Shirahana played Alex’s captured bride and her ephemeral role was deeply affecting.
The male hippies, played by Masaki Ryuu, Ayazuki Seri, Hibiki Reona, and Takachi Ao, get a lot of dance and chorus scenes as well as doubling up to play Alexander’s underlings. Among them, Masaki Ryuu, whose dreadlocks made her delightfully noticeable, stood out as an otokoyaku with lots of future promise.
Even though, counting the 2 Senka members, there were only 15 cast members, everyone had individuality, and there were enough lines and songs that it didn’t feel lonely to have so few people on stage. The play showed off the talents of everyone in the cast.
While at the beginning I mentioned Hamlet, this play has a similar sort of image to the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, or Hair, and even the Greek tragedy The Bacchae comes to mind.
In this play, entangled in a “battle” against the gods, his country, war, and even himself, Alex presses on despite his doubts and oppositions, finally exhausting his own life at the end of the story. However, for Sena Jun and the other actresses on stage, and even for the audience in the seats, it doesn’t feel like the “battle” ended there. Even after the performance ended, the reality of the work and the uplifting impression were still stirring in my heart.