Low Down

With the performance Kaguya, Makoto Inoue won the award of best performance at Prague Fringe Festival. In the rehearsal studio of the Rozentheater I was able to witness this dazzling mime performance in which Makoto Inoue recreates an ancient Japanese Folktale. A brilliant actor, a moving story, a well-constructed soundscape and some simple lighting are the ingredients that make this performance one of my favourites during Amsterdam Fringe 2010.

Review

On every seat in the rehearsal studio is a small synopsis of the folktale we are about to experience. A story about an old man who, while cutting bamboo, finds a baby girl inside a shining stem. Having no children, the old man and his wife decide to raise the girl like she is their own. A beautiful girl grows up and the bamboo princess gets a lot of attention from young men. But she never shows any interest. She has something else on her mind. The bamboo princess was born on the moon and will have to go back to the moon very soon. And although the old man tries his best to prevent it from happening, an angel comes down to take the bamboo princess home.

But theatre would not be theatre if it was only the narrative that tells the story. Inoue is a brilliant mime artist, who tells this ancient tale all by himself without the use a spoken words. With the help of a soundscape and a very precise lighting design. We follow the story with Inoue as our guide, always knowing where we are, who we have in front of us and how they feel. He manages to effortlessly switch between different characters, locations and times. With a simple rotation, the old man becomes a young girl; with a simple gesture and some noise on tape we know time passed by. It is in this way that Inoue tells a moving story about a man getting everything he ever wanted, but eventually having to let it go.

To be able to keep an audience focussed without using the almighty sign of spoken language, and without making direct contact with your audience is amazingly impressive. The extreme concentration of this actor was felt with my whole body. Breathless, I watched, listened and experienced half an hour of movement. In return I was moved, both physically and emotionally.

Makoto Inoue makes physical theatre using genres such as dance and mime to tell a story. And he certainly masters this powerful technique. Using mime for the concrete elements, dance for the abstract elements, and natural acting for the emotional side, Inoue makes a performance in between genres. He tells a story in higher concentration and gives us the opportunity and pleasure of watching a fantastic dancer, actor, theatre maker and performer in one.

Reviewed by Lieke van Hoogenhuyze 5 September 2010

Website :

http://makotino.com/

By the way, if what I said above did not sell you this performance yet, let me tell you this: I’ve never seen a guy popping and locking like Makoto Inoue!