I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
with love
Ginger
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Magical Wreath Making workshop report
すっかり冬の風が吹く奈良。
いつものように、Vanam に集う3人の魔女たち。
魔法のリース作りは、里山の恵みをていねいに編み込んで行くだけ。
糊も、紐も、ワイヤーも要らない。
蔓のしなりと会話をしながら、枠を作ったら、常緑の枝を差し込んで行く。
クリスマスっぽく、飾りをつけて完成です。
来年からの空飛ぶ3人の魔女は、季節ごとの開催を計画しております。
Vanam より下山して、皆様がご参加されやすい場所と日程で魔女修行の場をご提供したいなあと、目下作戦会議中です。
どうぞお楽しみに。
Winter wind was blowing through Nara.
As usual, we Three Flying Witches got together at Vanam.
Our magical wreath were made with blessings of local mountains.
We simply weave them carefully.
No need of glue, string, or wire.
By listening to the bending vines and make base frame.
Then put the evergreen twigs one by one.
Make a finishing touch with Christmas-ish decoration and we've done.
From 2015, we are planning to hold four seasonal workshops.
We will descend Vanam and hope to provide our workshops at accessible venue and dates.
Right now, we are having meetings about it.
Please look forward to our next move!
いつものように、Vanam に集う3人の魔女たち。
糊も、紐も、ワイヤーも要らない。
蔓のしなりと会話をしながら、枠を作ったら、常緑の枝を差し込んで行く。
クリスマスっぽく、飾りをつけて完成です。
来年からの空飛ぶ3人の魔女は、季節ごとの開催を計画しております。
Vanam より下山して、皆様がご参加されやすい場所と日程で魔女修行の場をご提供したいなあと、目下作戦会議中です。
どうぞお楽しみに。
☆☆☆
Winter wind was blowing through Nara.
As usual, we Three Flying Witches got together at Vanam.
We simply weave them carefully.
No need of glue, string, or wire.
By listening to the bending vines and make base frame.
Then put the evergreen twigs one by one.
Make a finishing touch with Christmas-ish decoration and we've done.
We will descend Vanam and hope to provide our workshops at accessible venue and dates.
Right now, we are having meetings about it.
Please look forward to our next move!
☆☆☆
Magic of Art and Spice
Witch from the south: Ayami
Witch from East Sea: Aco
Witch from the west: Ginger
Friday, December 05, 2014
Moving forward
それは、秋の始まりの頃。
"そんな小さな場所にいて、息苦しくないの？
恐れは要らない。飛び出しなさい。"
天之御中主神さまからのメッセージを頂いた朝。
" 誰しも自分一人の力で生きているわけではない。
自力と他力の中道を、歩むこと。"
ご縁があって巡り会えた本に、書いてあった言葉たち。
前へ、進まなくては。
自然を愛するように他人を想いたい。
どんな人であっても。
我儘な私には、とても難しい。
It happened in one morning of early autumn.
Aren't you suffocating yourself being in such a tiny space?
Fear not. Jump.
I was given an oracle from Amenominakanushi.
Nobody is living on his or her own.
Accepting other people's helping hands and take the middle course.
These thoughts were in a book I came across by chance.
I must move forward.
I wish I can think of others as the way I love Nature.
Whoever the person is.
It's not so easy for me, a selfish being.
"そんな小さな場所にいて、息苦しくないの？
恐れは要らない。飛び出しなさい。"
天之御中主神さまからのメッセージを頂いた朝。
☆
" 誰しも自分一人の力で生きているわけではない。
自力と他力の中道を、歩むこと。"
ご縁があって巡り会えた本に、書いてあった言葉たち。
前へ、進まなくては。
自然を愛するように他人を想いたい。
どんな人であっても。
我儘な私には、とても難しい。
It happened in one morning of early autumn.
Aren't you suffocating yourself being in such a tiny space?
Fear not. Jump.
I was given an oracle from Amenominakanushi.
☆
Nobody is living on his or her own.
Accepting other people's helping hands and take the middle course.
These thoughts were in a book I came across by chance.
I must move forward.
I wish I can think of others as the way I love Nature.
Whoever the person is.
It's not so easy for me, a selfish being.
Tuesday, December 02, 2014
Witch Pomander Workshop report and the next workshop
オレンジとクローブの薫る午後のひと時。
コツコツと冬支度。
魔女のポマンダーは、魔法の香り。
オレンジに描く模様は、縞や円。
私は螺旋状にしたくて頑張ってみました。
難しいよって、言われたけどね。
初めてにしては、上出来 かな？
模様が出来たら、後は風と太陽の仕事。
冬がピークを迎える頃には、甘くスパイシーに芳香を放ってくれることでしょう。
One afternoon, we were embraced by the scent of orange and clove.
We slowly and steadily started to prepare ourselves for coming winter.
Witches make pomanders with magical scent.
The patterns we draw on the oranges are normaly stripes or circles.
I tried on vortex.
Though our teacher warned me it's going to be harder.
I say well done me considering it was my first time.
After we made patterns on the oranges, we handed them to wind and the sun.
By the middle of the winter, they will give off a sweet and spicy odor.
☆
今年は最後のワークショップとなります。
☆
Magic of Art and Spice
Witch from the south: Ayami
Witch from East Sea: Aco
Witch from the west: Ginger
Witch from the south: Ayami
Witch from East Sea: Aco
Witch from the west: Ginger
Happy colours, happy moments
11月の終わり、Ayami先生のトルコ料理教室へ。
少し自分のペースで毎日がまわっていない日々で、心も身体も、ピラティスだけではバランスを取りきれずにいました。
その日の夜は、ピラティスの師匠のクラスを2本代行させていただいたのですが、スタジオに入った瞬間、スイッチが押されたように元気が出たのには自分でも驚きました。
At the end of November, I went to Turkish cuisine lesson by Ayami.
For Turkish dishes, we use spice like Indian dieshes, but in a different way and with different quantities.
And we use lots of fresh herbs.
Our lesson menu was full of my favorite things.
Yapral Salmasi which are vine leave rolls stuffed with rice, nuts, and herbs.
Acili Ezme, spicy tomato salad. Lots of tomatoes.
Köfte, Turkish meat balls with lots of vegetables, with yogurt sauce.
Mercimek Corbasi, tomato soup with lentils.
And "Babaanne's privincial bread".
Babaanne means a paternal grandmother.
Turkish dishes requires lots of finly chopping works.
It's like making mosaic tiles. We chop everything fine fine fine....
Red of tomato, green of parsely, and white of garlic.
All the colourful mosaics are dancing around on the chopping boards.
Food with beautiful colours can satisfy our appetites just the look of it.
✳
Before I went to the lesson, I'd been in dissy days which had been disturbing my own rhythm of living. So I was having a trouble keeping my mental and physical balance only by Pilates excercises.
On this day, I cooked happly with other students at the lesson and shared delicious dishes. Those things slowly cheered me up.
After the lesson, Aco from Vanam in Nara came and we had a meeting of The Three Flying Witches. I was exhausted, but happy.
On the same day evening, I had two Pilates classes on my Pilates master's behalf. It was surprising that as soon as I stepped into a studio, I was full of energy like someone switchd on my power.
As I was looking at my students' smily faces, I was happy to be in front of them and I was glad that I've been studying hard.
I felt like I shared happy energy which I was given by two witches with my students.
I want to keep sending others a good vibe like passing a baton in a good condition.
インド料理のように、スパイスを使うけど、使い方も使う量も違う。
そしてスパイスの他にはハーブをたっぷりと。
今回のメニューは、私が好きなものばかり。
お米やナッツやハーブを葡萄の葉で包んだヤップラック サルマス。
トマトたっぷりの辛いサラダ、アジュルエズメ。
キョフテ(野菜たっぷりの肉団子)と、ヨーグルトソース。
レンズ豆のトマト入りスープ、メルジメッキ チョルバス。
そしてババアンネの田舎パン。
ババアンネとは、父方のおばあちゃんのこと。
トルコ料理は、微塵切りが多い。
モザイクタイルのように、細かく細かく…。
トマトの赤、パセリの緑、ニンニクの白。
色彩も鮮やかにまな板の上にヒラヒラと舞う。
色のキレイな食事は、それだけでも美味しい。
トルコ料理は、微塵切りが多い。
モザイクタイルのように、細かく細かく…。
トマトの赤、パセリの緑、ニンニクの白。
色彩も鮮やかにまな板の上にヒラヒラと舞う。
色のキレイな食事は、それだけでも美味しい。
✳
少し自分のペースで毎日がまわっていない日々で、心も身体も、ピラティスだけではバランスを取りきれずにいました。
この日、お料理教室のみなさんと、わいわい料理を作り、美味しくいただきながら、少しずつ元気が戻りました。
その日の夜は、ピラティスの師匠のクラスを2本代行させていただいたのですが、スタジオに入った瞬間、スイッチが押されたように元気が出たのには自分でも驚きました。
お客様の笑顔を見ながら、この場に立てたことが嬉しく、これまで勉強を続けてきたことをよかったと感じました。
二人の魔女にもらった元気を、お客様たちとわかちあったような気持ちです。
いいエネルギーをバトンのように、いい状態で渡していける私でありたいです。
いいエネルギーをバトンのように、いい状態で渡していける私でありたいです。
For Turkish dishes, we use spice like Indian dieshes, but in a different way and with different quantities.
And we use lots of fresh herbs.
Our lesson menu was full of my favorite things.
Yapral Salmasi which are vine leave rolls stuffed with rice, nuts, and herbs.
Acili Ezme, spicy tomato salad. Lots of tomatoes.
Köfte, Turkish meat balls with lots of vegetables, with yogurt sauce.
Mercimek Corbasi, tomato soup with lentils.
And "Babaanne's privincial bread".
Babaanne means a paternal grandmother.
It's like making mosaic tiles. We chop everything fine fine fine....
Red of tomato, green of parsely, and white of garlic.
All the colourful mosaics are dancing around on the chopping boards.
Food with beautiful colours can satisfy our appetites just the look of it.
✳
Before I went to the lesson, I'd been in dissy days which had been disturbing my own rhythm of living. So I was having a trouble keeping my mental and physical balance only by Pilates excercises.
On this day, I cooked happly with other students at the lesson and shared delicious dishes. Those things slowly cheered me up.
After the lesson, Aco from Vanam in Nara came and we had a meeting of The Three Flying Witches. I was exhausted, but happy.
On the same day evening, I had two Pilates classes on my Pilates master's behalf. It was surprising that as soon as I stepped into a studio, I was full of energy like someone switchd on my power.
As I was looking at my students' smily faces, I was happy to be in front of them and I was glad that I've been studying hard.
I felt like I shared happy energy which I was given by two witches with my students.
I want to keep sending others a good vibe like passing a baton in a good condition.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Finding my crystal
芸術は私を救う。ごく最近のこと、私は小さいけれど意味のある心の変化を経験し、それによって頭の中の考えがはっきりとし、新しい舞台に自分を進めたいと思った。
私の周りではこのところ、とても急速に、凄まじく物事が動いている。
今現在に於いて、その全てが私には着いて行けないほど速い。
自らが置かれた状況と、自分の意志との不和に、疲弊する。
とことん宮仕えが下手な自分だということは重々承知しているのだけれど、やはり限界を感じ始めていた。
しかし突如として一条の光が私の顔に射した。
私の心は喜びと高揚で満たされた。
変化の辛い面から目を背けないように。
来るべきものは全て受け入れよう。
もしも私の魂が水晶になるのなら、今は原石のかたい角を落としている最中だ。
辛抱強くならなければ。
私に必要なのは、こだわりを捨てること。
他人にやさしくなること。
魂に耳を傾けて、生きること。
Surely art saves me.
Recently I went through a small, but meaningful change in my mind, which cleared my thoughts and made me want to move on to a new phase.
The things have been changing rapidly and vigorously around me lately.
Right now, it's too hasty for me to catch up with everything.
So I've been getting weary of the discord between the circumstance and my own will.
I've already known that I'm utterly clumsy with acting as a working adult, but this still gave me a feeling that I was very close at my limit.
My heart was filled with joy and excitement.
I shouldn't ignore the darkside of the change.
I must accept everything comes to me.
If my soul will be a crystal, right now I've been rounding off the hard edges of the ore.
I have to be patient.
What I need to do are to let go of my obsession.
To be kind to others.
And to listen to my soul.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Where the deities are
銀の山と、金の山。
あまい水と、満天の星空。
神々の土地で、深呼吸。
此処に来させてくれた 全ての出来事に感謝。
Silver mountains and gold mountains.
Sweet water and the sky full of stars.
I breathed deep at where the deities are.
Thanked everything that let me come here.
あまい水と、満天の星空。
神々の土地で、深呼吸。
此処に来させてくれた 全ての出来事に感謝。
Silver mountains and gold mountains.
Sweet water and the sky full of stars.
I breathed deep at where the deities are.
Thanked everything that let me come here.
Monday, November 17, 2014
when love turns into hatred
ナショナル・シアターの演目の中でも人気のあった作品を映画館で観れるという、ナショナル•シアター ライブ。
週末限定で日本でも公開となった、ダニー・ボイル監督による「フランケンシュタイン」を鑑賞しに、二週連続して仕事終わりにダッシュで劇場へ。
なぜ二週連続かというと、この演目の目玉でもあった主役二人の入れ替わりを楽しむため。
フランケンシュタイン博士と、彼の創造物。
己の欲望のために愛を遠ざけ、神の技を得ようとした男と、その男によって生命を与えられ、見た目のおぞましさ故に孤独の淵に追いやられ、それでもなお愛されようと戦う怪物。
この難役を、ベネディクト・カンバーバッチとジョニー・リー・ミラーの二人が交代で演じる。
まず舞台装置が素晴らしい。
無数に天井から吊り下げられた電球は、命のほとばしりや星の輝き、そして文明の光まで多様に見せてくれる。
フランケンシュタイン家のセットは、土台が斜めに歪んでいるのか、もしくは歪んで見えるように目の錯覚を利用しているのか、この一家の不運を暗示させるように頼りなく不吉だ。
そして怪物のメイクは、この作品のデザインの中でも最も重要な物だったと言える。
怪物の見た目が恐ろしければ恐ろしいほど、彼の中に芽生える人間としての心の美しさが悲壮に際立つ。
産まれたての赤子と同じに四肢の動かし方を覚え、言葉を覚え、記憶し、考え、感情を持つ。彼が学ぶほどに次々に生まれる純粋な疑問に、世界が与える答えは矛盾や混乱を招くばかり。
印象深いシーンはいくつもある。
産まれてすぐに拒絶と暴力の洗礼を受けた後、初めてあたたかい太陽の光に包まれ、そこに身体をあずけ、鳥の声に歓び、雨に喉を潤す怪物。
涙が出るほど美しく、生命のよろこびに溢れるシーンだった。
産業革命の時代を象徴するような、蒸気機関の乗り物や、鉄や歯車の回る音。
スチーム・パンク！な印象の一団が舞台に登場した瞬間の高揚感。
訳が分からず怯える怪物の戸惑いが良く伝わるシーンである。
優しくしてくれた盲目の老人から、裏切られたと叫ぶ怪物の哀しさ。
どんなに努力しても、受け入れてもらえない悲痛な叫び。
なぜ、生まれたのか？この世の何処かに仲間や家族はいるのか？
孤独な自分をなぐさめてくれる友達が欲しいだけなのに。
フランケンシュタイン博士と怪物との対話。
己の成した業に感動を禁じ得ない、唯一無二の創造主でありながら、その自らの創造物を無かったものにしたい葛藤。
しかし更なる魅力的な科学的探究に心を奪われて、新たに自ら危険な領域に足を踏み入れて行く。彼の心はプライドと道理との狭間で揺れ動く。
一方でまっすぐな心で、フランケンシュタイン博士を論破していく怪物。
ただ愛する対象を持つこと、そして愛されることのみを願う。
そこには生きるということの永遠のテーマがある。
ジョニー・リー・ミラーの演じる怪物の力強さ。太く深く響く声は怪物の生命力を感じさせ、大きく開かれた瞳は哀しみを宿している。生まれてきた哀しさ、怒り、やり場のない葛藤が背中から火炎のようにゆらめくのが目に見えるようだった。剥き出しの縫合糸が、強靭な肉体を強調するデザインになっていて、それとは対照的な、怪物の魂の繊細さが際立ち、私は何度も涙した。頑健な身体を怒りと困惑に震わせて必死で生きる道を切り開こうとする姿に悲痛さがある。
ベネディクト・カンバーバッチの怪物は、軽やかで、妖精のようなはかなさがある。ミラーとほぼ同じメイクを施しても、細身のカンバーバッチが纏う縫合跡は、ミラーのものよりも痛々しい。カンバーバッチの怪物は、言葉を得た後も幼な子の無邪気さを残したまま、怯えや哀しみを不安定な足取りや一所に落ち着かない指先で見せてくれる。自分の居場所が分からず、いじらしくシャツの裾を持て余すさまは、駆け寄って抱きしめてあげたくなるほどだった。かわいらしさとユーモアに溢れ、怒りに燃えつつも魂の根底では生命の歓びに満ちていた。だからこそ、怪物の困惑や葛藤がやるせなく際立つ。カンバーバッチは、これまでの怪物のイメージを一新してくれた。
両者の怪物、フランケンシュタイン博士を観られることの贅沢。
素晴らしい舞台だった。
なによりも、脚本と演出の質の高さがすごい。
深いテーマを扱いながら、随所にユーモアや皮肉が溢れ、笑いが生まれる。
そして、ふっと和んだシーンの直後に一転して、背筋が凍りつくような恐怖が訪れる演出。
私にとっては懐かしいイギリスの舞台に出会えて心が元気になり、原作を読みたくなった。
愛とはなんだろう？
愛が憎しみに変わる時、哀しみが生まれる。
強すぎる愛は、欲望と呼ばれるのだろうか？
プライドやエゴを捨てることはできるのか？
生きる目的や生きる心の支えがプライドなら？憎しみなら？愛なら...？
心に残った台詞がいつくか。
ここに引用したものは、メアリー・シェリーの原作をニック・ディアが脚本にした『フランケンシュタイン』より。
*
ビクター: (『失楽園』の引用をした怪物に驚き) 『失楽園』？おまえが『失楽園』を読んだのか？
怪物: 気に入ったよ。
ビクター: 何故だ？自分をアダムに重ねたのか？
怪物: 私はアダムのはずなんだ。神はアダムを誇りに思っていた。しかし私が共感するのはサタンだ。何故なら私はサタンのように追放されたからだ、なにも悪いことをしていないのにも関わらず。そして幸せな他人を見ると、喉の奥に怒りがせり上がる。それはサタンの持つ怒りだ。
*
ビクター: 愛するとは、どういう気持ちだ？
怪物: 愛は、身体の中の命がグラグラと湧いて口からあふれだすような気持ちだ。自分の肺が燃え盛り、心臓は鉄槌のように叩き付け、この世で自分にできないものなど何もないと感じるんだ！なんだってできると！
*
ビクター(フランケンシュタイン博士): お前が自ら招いた結果だ。
怪物: 私が？どう？どうやって？私が創ってくれと頼んだか？私があなたに袋に詰められた汚物から私を創ってくださいと頼んだというのか？私は異形だ。私は自分が他人とは違うってことをわかっている。同じになろうと努力したが、でもやはり私は違うのだ。どうして私は私のままでいられないのか？どうして人間は私をひどく嫌うのだ？・・・
******
National Theatre Live is a project to broadcast the fine productions which gained great popularity of the audience on screen.
I hurried my way to the cinema as soon as my work had finished two weeks in a row to watch Frankenstein by Danny Boyle, which they decided to show only in the two weekends in Japan.
The reason why I went to see the same play two weeks in a row was because I wanted to enjoy the swapping of the two main characters by the two main actors which was the feature of the production.
Frankenstein and his creation.
One is a man who kept love at a distance for his own desire and tried to gain the act of God. And the other was a creature which was brought to life by the man but was casted away to the edge of solitude due to his hideous appearance. And yet to fight his way to be loved.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated in playing those two challenging roles.
For a start, the set was amazingly beautiful.
The coutless light bulbs express from a spout of life and a flicker of stars to light of civilization.
The house set of the Frankenstein looked like its base was slanted slightly, or maybe using an optical illusion to make it looks like it's slanted. So it's unstable as if it's suggesting the family's adverse fortune.
And the makeup design of the creature was one of the key elements of the whole production designs.
The more horrifying and ugly the creature looks, the beauty of his humane soul grows inside of him becomes more clear and tragically stands out.
As a new born baby, the creature learnt how to use his limbs, studied the language, built up his memory, think by himself, and nurture various feelings. The more he learns, the more and more pure questions he has, but the answers given by the world bring him contradiction and confusion.
There were several unforgettable scenes.
One of them was the scene when the creature was rejected by public and received the baptism of violence. And then he met the sun for the first time. He let it embrace him with its warm light and he cried for tweet of birds for joy and quenched his thirst with rain.
The scene was filled with rapture of life and I almost cried for the beauty of it.
The steam engine vehicle and the sound of iron and turning gear wheels were symbolising the time of industrialisation.
When a gang dressed in steam punk-ish costume came upon the stage, my heart got so excited.
It was very convincing that the creature was perplexed and ran around in horror.
Sorrowful moment when the blind old man's kindness turned out to be a betrayal to the creature, and he cries for distress.
No matter how hard he tries his best, he's never accepted by anyone in the world.
Why? Why was he born? Is there anyone who is his kind or a member of his family?
All he wants is a friend who can console his solitary.
_and_Victor_Frankenstein_(Benedict_Cumberbatch)._Photo_by_Catherine_Ashmore_0.jpg)
A dialogue between Frankenstein and his creation.
Frankenstein struggles between the feeling of being a proud, original creator who's done an incredible work and the feeling of an urge to destroy his own creation as if it's never happened.
But he was tempted by yet another challenging scientific pursuit, and he steps into a newly dangerous realm. His heart is torn between his pride and morality.
On the other hand, the creature refutes Frankenstein by its ingenuous heart.
He just wishes to have an object to love and to be loved in return.
There is an eternal theme of life.
The creature by Jonny Lee Miller had strength. His thick, deep voice expressed the creature's force of life, and his widely opened eyes reflect his sorrow. It was as if I could see, on his back, lambent flame of sadness, anger of being born, and a riptide he could never be able to let it out. The design of crude stitches were emphasising his tough body, and I shed my tears many times to see his contrastingly delicate and fragile soul. It's heartbreaking to see that he shakes his sturdy body with rage and perplexity, but still he tries hard to find his own way to live.
The creature by Benedict Cumberbatch was light and ephemeral like a fairy. Even though he had the almost same make-up as Miller did, the stitches on slim Cumberbatche's body were more painful to behold than the ones on Miller's body. The creature he played kept innocence of an infant even after the character had learnt how to speak. He expressed his fear and sadness by his wobbling footsteps and awkwardly restless fingers. His gesture, fiddling about the hem of his shirt when he doesn't know where he should belongs to, was so dear and made me want to run to him and hold him tight. He was full of adorableness and a sense of humor. Even when he was raged, at the very bottom of his heart, there was joy of life, wherefore his perplexity and conflict disconsolately stand out. Cumberbatch renewed the image of the creature so far.
Such a luxury I could have, to be able to see the two great actors playing the both roles.
It was an incredible production.
There are many lines remain in my heart.
*
Creature Have I? How? How did I? Did I ask to be created? Did I ask you to make me from some muck in a sack? I am different, I know I am different! I have tried to be the same but I’m different! Why can I not be who I am? Why does humanity detest me? ....
週末限定で日本でも公開となった、ダニー・ボイル監督による「フランケンシュタイン」を鑑賞しに、二週連続して仕事終わりにダッシュで劇場へ。
なぜ二週連続かというと、この演目の目玉でもあった主役二人の入れ替わりを楽しむため。
フランケンシュタイン博士と、彼の創造物。
己の欲望のために愛を遠ざけ、神の技を得ようとした男と、その男によって生命を与えられ、見た目のおぞましさ故に孤独の淵に追いやられ、それでもなお愛されようと戦う怪物。
この難役を、ベネディクト・カンバーバッチとジョニー・リー・ミラーの二人が交代で演じる。
まず舞台装置が素晴らしい。
無数に天井から吊り下げられた電球は、命のほとばしりや星の輝き、そして文明の光まで多様に見せてくれる。
フランケンシュタイン家のセットは、土台が斜めに歪んでいるのか、もしくは歪んで見えるように目の錯覚を利用しているのか、この一家の不運を暗示させるように頼りなく不吉だ。
そして怪物のメイクは、この作品のデザインの中でも最も重要な物だったと言える。
怪物の見た目が恐ろしければ恐ろしいほど、彼の中に芽生える人間としての心の美しさが悲壮に際立つ。
産まれたての赤子と同じに四肢の動かし方を覚え、言葉を覚え、記憶し、考え、感情を持つ。彼が学ぶほどに次々に生まれる純粋な疑問に、世界が与える答えは矛盾や混乱を招くばかり。
印象深いシーンはいくつもある。
産まれてすぐに拒絶と暴力の洗礼を受けた後、初めてあたたかい太陽の光に包まれ、そこに身体をあずけ、鳥の声に歓び、雨に喉を潤す怪物。
涙が出るほど美しく、生命のよろこびに溢れるシーンだった。
産業革命の時代を象徴するような、蒸気機関の乗り物や、鉄や歯車の回る音。
スチーム・パンク！な印象の一団が舞台に登場した瞬間の高揚感。
訳が分からず怯える怪物の戸惑いが良く伝わるシーンである。
どんなに努力しても、受け入れてもらえない悲痛な叫び。
なぜ、生まれたのか？この世の何処かに仲間や家族はいるのか？
孤独な自分をなぐさめてくれる友達が欲しいだけなのに。
フランケンシュタイン博士と怪物との対話。
己の成した業に感動を禁じ得ない、唯一無二の創造主でありながら、その自らの創造物を無かったものにしたい葛藤。
しかし更なる魅力的な科学的探究に心を奪われて、新たに自ら危険な領域に足を踏み入れて行く。彼の心はプライドと道理との狭間で揺れ動く。
一方でまっすぐな心で、フランケンシュタイン博士を論破していく怪物。
ただ愛する対象を持つこと、そして愛されることのみを願う。
そこには生きるということの永遠のテーマがある。
ジョニー・リー・ミラーの演じる怪物の力強さ。太く深く響く声は怪物の生命力を感じさせ、大きく開かれた瞳は哀しみを宿している。生まれてきた哀しさ、怒り、やり場のない葛藤が背中から火炎のようにゆらめくのが目に見えるようだった。剥き出しの縫合糸が、強靭な肉体を強調するデザインになっていて、それとは対照的な、怪物の魂の繊細さが際立ち、私は何度も涙した。頑健な身体を怒りと困惑に震わせて必死で生きる道を切り開こうとする姿に悲痛さがある。
ベネディクト・カンバーバッチの怪物は、軽やかで、妖精のようなはかなさがある。ミラーとほぼ同じメイクを施しても、細身のカンバーバッチが纏う縫合跡は、ミラーのものよりも痛々しい。カンバーバッチの怪物は、言葉を得た後も幼な子の無邪気さを残したまま、怯えや哀しみを不安定な足取りや一所に落ち着かない指先で見せてくれる。自分の居場所が分からず、いじらしくシャツの裾を持て余すさまは、駆け寄って抱きしめてあげたくなるほどだった。かわいらしさとユーモアに溢れ、怒りに燃えつつも魂の根底では生命の歓びに満ちていた。だからこそ、怪物の困惑や葛藤がやるせなく際立つ。カンバーバッチは、これまでの怪物のイメージを一新してくれた。
両者の怪物、フランケンシュタイン博士を観られることの贅沢。
素晴らしい舞台だった。
なによりも、脚本と演出の質の高さがすごい。
深いテーマを扱いながら、随所にユーモアや皮肉が溢れ、笑いが生まれる。
そして、ふっと和んだシーンの直後に一転して、背筋が凍りつくような恐怖が訪れる演出。
私にとっては懐かしいイギリスの舞台に出会えて心が元気になり、原作を読みたくなった。
愛とはなんだろう？
愛が憎しみに変わる時、哀しみが生まれる。
強すぎる愛は、欲望と呼ばれるのだろうか？
プライドやエゴを捨てることはできるのか？
生きる目的や生きる心の支えがプライドなら？憎しみなら？愛なら...？
心に残った台詞がいつくか。
ここに引用したものは、メアリー・シェリーの原作をニック・ディアが脚本にした『フランケンシュタイン』より。
*
ビクター: (『失楽園』の引用をした怪物に驚き) 『失楽園』？おまえが『失楽園』を読んだのか？
怪物: 気に入ったよ。
ビクター: 何故だ？自分をアダムに重ねたのか？
怪物: 私はアダムのはずなんだ。神はアダムを誇りに思っていた。しかし私が共感するのはサタンだ。何故なら私はサタンのように追放されたからだ、なにも悪いことをしていないのにも関わらず。そして幸せな他人を見ると、喉の奥に怒りがせり上がる。それはサタンの持つ怒りだ。
*
ビクター: 愛するとは、どういう気持ちだ？
怪物: 愛は、身体の中の命がグラグラと湧いて口からあふれだすような気持ちだ。自分の肺が燃え盛り、心臓は鉄槌のように叩き付け、この世で自分にできないものなど何もないと感じるんだ！なんだってできると！
*
ビクター(フランケンシュタイン博士): お前が自ら招いた結果だ。
怪物: 私が？どう？どうやって？私が創ってくれと頼んだか？私があなたに袋に詰められた汚物から私を創ってくださいと頼んだというのか？私は異形だ。私は自分が他人とは違うってことをわかっている。同じになろうと努力したが、でもやはり私は違うのだ。どうして私は私のままでいられないのか？どうして人間は私をひどく嫌うのだ？・・・
******
National Theatre Live is a project to broadcast the fine productions which gained great popularity of the audience on screen.
I hurried my way to the cinema as soon as my work had finished two weeks in a row to watch Frankenstein by Danny Boyle, which they decided to show only in the two weekends in Japan.
The reason why I went to see the same play two weeks in a row was because I wanted to enjoy the swapping of the two main characters by the two main actors which was the feature of the production.
Frankenstein and his creation.
One is a man who kept love at a distance for his own desire and tried to gain the act of God. And the other was a creature which was brought to life by the man but was casted away to the edge of solitude due to his hideous appearance. And yet to fight his way to be loved.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated in playing those two challenging roles.
For a start, the set was amazingly beautiful.
The coutless light bulbs express from a spout of life and a flicker of stars to light of civilization.
The house set of the Frankenstein looked like its base was slanted slightly, or maybe using an optical illusion to make it looks like it's slanted. So it's unstable as if it's suggesting the family's adverse fortune.
And the makeup design of the creature was one of the key elements of the whole production designs.
The more horrifying and ugly the creature looks, the beauty of his humane soul grows inside of him becomes more clear and tragically stands out.
As a new born baby, the creature learnt how to use his limbs, studied the language, built up his memory, think by himself, and nurture various feelings. The more he learns, the more and more pure questions he has, but the answers given by the world bring him contradiction and confusion.
There were several unforgettable scenes.
One of them was the scene when the creature was rejected by public and received the baptism of violence. And then he met the sun for the first time. He let it embrace him with its warm light and he cried for tweet of birds for joy and quenched his thirst with rain.
The scene was filled with rapture of life and I almost cried for the beauty of it.
The steam engine vehicle and the sound of iron and turning gear wheels were symbolising the time of industrialisation.
When a gang dressed in steam punk-ish costume came upon the stage, my heart got so excited.
It was very convincing that the creature was perplexed and ran around in horror.
Sorrowful moment when the blind old man's kindness turned out to be a betrayal to the creature, and he cries for distress.
No matter how hard he tries his best, he's never accepted by anyone in the world.
Why? Why was he born? Is there anyone who is his kind or a member of his family?
All he wants is a friend who can console his solitary.
A dialogue between Frankenstein and his creation.
Frankenstein struggles between the feeling of being a proud, original creator who's done an incredible work and the feeling of an urge to destroy his own creation as if it's never happened.
But he was tempted by yet another challenging scientific pursuit, and he steps into a newly dangerous realm. His heart is torn between his pride and morality.
On the other hand, the creature refutes Frankenstein by its ingenuous heart.
He just wishes to have an object to love and to be loved in return.
There is an eternal theme of life.
The creature by Jonny Lee Miller had strength. His thick, deep voice expressed the creature's force of life, and his widely opened eyes reflect his sorrow. It was as if I could see, on his back, lambent flame of sadness, anger of being born, and a riptide he could never be able to let it out. The design of crude stitches were emphasising his tough body, and I shed my tears many times to see his contrastingly delicate and fragile soul. It's heartbreaking to see that he shakes his sturdy body with rage and perplexity, but still he tries hard to find his own way to live.
The creature by Benedict Cumberbatch was light and ephemeral like a fairy. Even though he had the almost same make-up as Miller did, the stitches on slim Cumberbatche's body were more painful to behold than the ones on Miller's body. The creature he played kept innocence of an infant even after the character had learnt how to speak. He expressed his fear and sadness by his wobbling footsteps and awkwardly restless fingers. His gesture, fiddling about the hem of his shirt when he doesn't know where he should belongs to, was so dear and made me want to run to him and hold him tight. He was full of adorableness and a sense of humor. Even when he was raged, at the very bottom of his heart, there was joy of life, wherefore his perplexity and conflict disconsolately stand out. Cumberbatch renewed the image of the creature so far.
Such a luxury I could have, to be able to see the two great actors playing the both roles.
It was an incredible production.
Above all else, the quality of the playwright and direction was superb.
It was dealing with deep theme, but had irony and humor everywhere and made the audience laugh.
And as soon as our hearts were warmed, there came a sudden turn and the scene becomes horror and it froze our blood.
For me, the British palys are something I'm familiar with. They give my heart energy. This one made me want to read the original novel by Mary Shelly.
What is love?
When love turns into hatred, it brings sorrow to our hearts.
Is too strong love called desire?
Can we throw away pride and ego?
What if the reason you live or you anchor were pride? Or hatred? Or love...?
It was dealing with deep theme, but had irony and humor everywhere and made the audience laugh.
And as soon as our hearts were warmed, there came a sudden turn and the scene becomes horror and it froze our blood.
For me, the British palys are something I'm familiar with. They give my heart energy. This one made me want to read the original novel by Mary Shelly.
What is love?
When love turns into hatred, it brings sorrow to our hearts.
Is too strong love called desire?
Can we throw away pride and ego?
What if the reason you live or you anchor were pride? Or hatred? Or love...?
There are many lines remain in my heart.
The belows are from Frankenstein by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelly.
*
Creature:"Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,/Said then the lost Archangel, this the seat/That we must change for Heaven, this mournful gloom/For that celestial fire."
Victor:(astonished) That's Paradise Lost! You've read Paradise Lost?
Creature:I liked it.
Victor:(astonished) That's Paradise Lost! You've read Paradise Lost?
Creature:I liked it.
Victor:Why? You saw yourself as Adam?
Creature:I should be Adam. God was proud of Adam. But Satan's the one I sympathise with. For I was cast out, like Satan, though I did no wrong. And when I see others content, I feel the bile rise in my throat, and it tastes like Satan's bile.
*
Victor:How does it feel, to be in love?
Creature:It feels like all the life is bubbling up in me and spilling from my mouth, it feels like my lungs are on fire and my heart is a hammer, it feels like I can do anything in the world! Anything in the world!
Creature:It feels like all the life is bubbling up in me and spilling from my mouth, it feels like my lungs are on fire and my heart is a hammer, it feels like I can do anything in the world! Anything in the world!
*
Victor You have brought this upon yourself.Creature Have I? How? How did I? Did I ask to be created? Did I ask you to make me from some muck in a sack? I am different, I know I am different! I have tried to be the same but I’m different! Why can I not be who I am? Why does humanity detest me? ....
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