XVI MFG Ferdydurke - Simul Theatre Company + Koniereni, Tokio, Japonia

An original story may be written down as an absurd novel. A 30-year-old man is cast into a gym and starts attending high school. He goes on to fall in love at first glance with a student, while his friend admires Sakuo and together they go to the countryside, where they join their relatives. Following this tale would not be art. First, is it necessary to stage FERDYDURKE? The writer admits the work is absurd and contains nothing capable of appealing to the public, but how far can we give credence to such statements? ‘Avoiding order’ seems the pivotal point of the text. Gombrowicz speaks of negating maturity. What is this about? It may be a critique of the Western modernism and, possibly, of the Polish nationalism. Gombrowicz talks about ‘style’, too. This may also be called ‘écriture’, but what is it if it’s not theatre? Brecht once said the key to getting across a message is the way it is transmitted. At Simul Theater Company, the actors are not trying to merely convey the meaning of words. They focus on how they are present on stage. I believe this is what explaining the script and embodying it on stage means to the actors. Theatre is not subordinated to literature, rather, it must be an independent means of expression and that’s what I concentrate on when I create plays. What should actors do on stage then? They remain there. Even if they don’t say anything, they are there. They are probably authors, too. Gombrowicz? Yasuhiro Akai? Each actor on their own?

‘I rushed to Itabashi to see Ferdydurke, a joint project of Simul Theatre Company and Konieleni for the 120 th anniversary of Gombrowicz’s birth. I had been moved by Cosmos under Yasuhiro Akai, so I was sure I wouldn’t be disappointed in my expectations. Using such body parts as bum (buttocks) and calf to infantilise and belittle man (in my opinion, Gombrowicz wrote his first full-sized novel in 1937 with Joyce in mind) is the most impressive. I’d thought it would be crass if done by women, but the bared buttocks and calves were not obscene, instead, it showed these body parts the way they really are, which is a great artistic achievement, I believe.’