"Nasza klasa – Nasha kurasa. We Studied Together. A Lesson of History in 14 Classes", directed by Hisao Takase, photo: press release
The Bungakuza company receives the Great National Theatre award of the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri, for its prodution of Our Class, the hugely popular drama by Tadeusz Słobodzianek
The company won the award for best performance for Our Class, and was honoured in the overall achievement category. Jiro Shima, set designer for Our Class, was also recognised by the Yomiuri jury. The premiere showing of Słobodzianek’s play, translated by Professor Koichi Kuyama with Kaori Nakayama and directed by Hiseo Takase, had been staged at Bungakuza's Tokyo theatre on the 18th of May 2012.
The director, Hiseo Takase explained that he was asking himself:
Are the Japanese really capable of understanding this cruel story? When I saw the authentic scenery of these events and managed to shake off all of my concerns, I realised that any symbolic decorations would be unnecessary. I thus made the decision to return to the foundations of a theatre play, which meant that the audience would return to the simple act of listening to the words uttered by the actors, who stand within an arm’s reach.
The Yomiuri Shimbun is one of Japan’s major newspapers, which comes out in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and other main regional cities. It was founded in 1874 and it is presently one the world’s most printed titles. In 1948 the journal set up the Yomiuri Prize to honour Japanese achievements in the sphere of culture and art. They were presented for the 20th time.
Nasza klasa / Our Class is set in Poland and is inspired by true events, including the Jedwabne pogrom in which 300 Polish Jews died in 1941. Tadeusz Słobodzianek’s play tells a story about a group of classmates - Poles and Jews - from 1925 up to our times. As they grow up, their friendly fun ends. The war breaks out, invading forces - first Soviet then Nazi - enter the town. Anti-Semitism erupts in a series of rapes, murders, torture, culminating in a mass pogrom. Almost all the local Jews are killed, burned in a barn or murdered in the town square.
The violence doesn't end with the conclusion of the war. A reckoning with the past begins, but proves an impossible task. Our Class is a shocking tale about complicated Polish-Jewish relations in the 20th century, collective blame, truth that nobody seems to need, and history which cannot be judged, retraced or even explained. The European Theatre Convention ranked it among the best contemporary European plays written during 2009 and 2010.
The playwright explains:
One must constantly confront the trauma of Polish-Jewish relations. I believe that it is possible to accomplish showing them in a different light, not in tragic and explicit manner, but in a way that would be more than just thought-provoking - a way that would induce a catharsis, leaving none indifferent to the subject.
The world premiere of Our Class. History in 14 lessons took place at the National Theatre in London in 2009. Numerous international productions prove the universal value of the text, which is the only play to date to win Poland’s most prestigious literary prize, the Nike Literary Award.
Japanese Production of Our Class - Credits
Nasha Kurasa
Based on the play by Tadeusz Słobodzianek
Translated by Koichi Kuyama and Kaori Nakayama
Directed by Hisao Takase
Set design: Jiro Shima
Music: Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, Kumiko Takara
Choreography: Eriko Shinkai
Cast: Sayako Makino (Dora), Mayumi Sako (Zocha), Ikuko Yamamoto (Rachelka, then Marianna), Kodai Fujigawa (Jakub Kac), Kunihiro Kawabe (Rysiek), Yoshiaki Kameda (Menachem), Fuyuki Sawada (Zygmunt), Akio Nakamura (Heniek), Akihiko Shimizu (Władek), Yasuyuki Unezawa (Abram)
Editor: SRS
Source: press release