Director Kamimura Satoshi, 47, became the artistic director of the New National Theatre in Tokyo in September. His first production in the role, an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita," opens on the 7th.
The novel, staged here from a script adapted by Edward Kemp and translated by Odajima Soji, follows the frenzy of 1930s Moscow under a regime that allowed no freedom of expression. Kamimura, who has used theater to raise questions about the present, said he wants to keep "a perspective that looks at the complexity and the possibilities of society and of people."
Kamimura worked at the theater company Bungakuza before going freelance, and studied in Britain and Germany. He has directed mainly translated plays at the New National Theatre, including "Angels in America," and drew praise for them. His staging of Bulgakov's "The White Guard" at the same theater two years ago preceded this one.
In the story, a playwright called the Master, played by Sonha, writes about Pontius Pilate, the governor who ordered Christ's execution. The work is fiercely criticized, he burns it and commits himself to a psychiatric hospital. His lover, played by Kanoh Maria, agrees to a deal with a strange foreigner, played by Sasai Eisuke, to save him.
The novel was published 26 years after Bulgakov's death. A line in it, "manuscripts don't burn," carries the tenacity of a writer who was suppressed.
“I have made work that looks at humanism. Even if it does not reach society, I want to depict, through the voices that come from inside the actors, what it is that people cannot throw away.”Kamimura Satoshi
As head of a public theater, Kamimura said he will emphasize four perspectives: contemporary, international and critical work; connections with other genres; encounters with new talent; and performances that do not end as consumption.
Starting with this production, the theater is also launching Theater Day, a program to bring in younger audiences, with free tickets for children from elementary school age through 20. The tickets are limited in number and distributed on a first-come basis.
The run continues through the 23rd. Tickets are available at the theater's box office, 03-5352-9999.