Japanese Actors Play in London

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1052, 16 August 1930, Page 24

Japanese Actors Play in London

“UNFORGETTABLY BEAUTIFUL”

A CRITIC’S PRAISE Those who are always crying out for something new in the theatre have now the chance of their lifetime, for I am sure that they have never seen anything like the Japanese Flayers now being presented at the Globe Theatre l>y C. B. Cochran and Maurice Browne, writes Alan Parsons. In the drama entitled “Kage-No-Chikara” (“Hidden Providence”) we see an utter abandonment, a complete unmasking of all the primitive emotions —anger, fear, grief, revenge, physical pain—a ruthlessness and an animal savagery which by their head long pace and vivid power take one’s breath away and make one grip the sides of one’s stall. High and Noble Tragedy It is a simple enough little drama, yet these actors invest it with the dignity of high and noble tragedy. Chuji, a young peasant, has his father killed and his lover taken captive by his overlord. His father's firend, Enzo, trains him up to he a skilled swordsman, so that after a term of years he may kill the murderer. This lie does, but Japan’s sacred laws demand that he who kills his overlord should die himself; so Enzo takes the guilt ou himself and commits hara-kiri for his friend. As Chuji, Kiyoshi Mimasu gives an extraordinary performance. His grief at the sight of his father’s corpse is overwhelming, while his face takes on the set grim lines of a tragic mask. Tokujiro Tsutsui, the famous Japanese actor who plays Enzo, is a figure of the stateliest nobility, most loftily serene in his sacrificial white robes. His swordsmanship is terrific —to see him take on three opponents singlehanded is to make the liveliest of our own stage duels appear like children playing at soldiers. Unforgettably Beautiful Pictorially, it is all unforgettably beautiful, and it Is particularly noteworthy how even in the height of their passion these actors will strike a formalised and conventional pose which suddenly brings a Japanese woodcut to life before our eyes. And how much more than mere actors they are—splendid swordsmen, the most agile of acrobats, singers, dancers, incomparable mimes. At the Globe Theatre then you will find an entirely new experience, and I-beg of you not to let it go by, for it may be years before it comes your way again.