Delphine Veaudor
Japanese Ghost Story
"Ho'Ichi The Earless"
Directed by Kanako Hiyama
La MaMa E.T.C. (First Floor Theater)
74A East Fourth Street
October 23-26, 2003 (closed)
Reviewed by Delphine Veaudor Oct. 26, 2003
Reporting Japanese folk stories in his early 20th century writings, Lafcadio Hearn--who published in Japan under the pen name Yakumo Koizumi--might have been a distant precursor of the present "Japanese wave" considering, for example, the widespread use of a samurai-inspired aesthetic in both animation and movies.
His "Ho'Ichi The Earless," adapted by playwright Royo Onodera and directed at La MaMa by Kanako Hiyama, offers a visual and musical journey through Japan's traditional characters and fantastic imagery with imaginative stage-direction.
Ho'Ichi (played by Tom Lee) is a young blind man working in a Buddhist temple during the Samurai Era. Since in this time being blind amounted to being useless, Ho'Ichi is a nobody, living of the grace of the monk he works for (played by Tom Knutson). The young man has a gift, although hardly acknowledged by his contemporaries: he plays the Biwa, the Japanese classical guitar, remarkably well.
The ghost story symbolically starts at this point. Ho'Ichi indeed looks like a kind of living ghost, only considering himself through the others' eyes and having no real own existence except in his art.
The literal ghost story starts when a spectral Samurai (played in shadow by Lars Preece) asks Ho'Iichi to come to his castle in order to perform for his mistress. From this moment, Ho'Ichi becomes the victim of illusion: while he thinks he is performing for a prestigious family of noble samurais, he is playing before an assembly of deposed samurai ghosts; while he believes he is in a castle, he stands in a graveyard, an allegory for death.
But no matter the illusion, Ho'Ichi's feelings exceed what he does not see and would be supposed to understand. Playing the Biwa among the ghosts, Ho'Ichi has the unknown sensation that he "can see with his eyes." Though he does not want to die and join the dead world, Ho'Ichi, who has been warned by the monk, eventually offers his ears to the ghost as an emblem for his own music. This embodies the ultimate sacrifice, not only related with honor as in the samurai folklore, but also standing for the epitome of a gift, which is eternal silence in exchange of having been temporarily enabled to see.
This is, basically, the story, but what you see on stage is far more than this fable. The musical atmosphere of the show is indeed the most important element of it. Music is the main subject of the play. It is a means for surmounting the frontiers between different worlds: not only between the dead and the living, but also between the current servant and his former masters.
On the other hand, one would have to characterise the music as an actor in the play, thanks to composer/musician Yukio Tsuji's complex and visible live performance to the left of the action. In some scenes, both actor Tom Lee and player Yukio Tsuji play the same part, with Lee acting as Ho'Ichi, and Tsuji playing his songs. The osmosis between them is striking
Some simple and very efficient light and shadow effects achieve a fantastic atmosphere. The set (by playwright Ryo Onodera) is comprised of typically Japanese screens upon which shadow puppets and light effects are shown, illustrating the blind man's feelings.
"Ho'Ichi The Earless" remains Asian in its style, its rhythm and its symbolism. It is not to be attended with typically western expectations, but rather with receptiveness toward a sensuous atmosphere and symbolic acts. Yet after receiving the play in this state of "eastern alertness," it is interesting to interpret it in regard to the modern western societies. It makes us reflect on the notions of art, use, and death in our own civilisation and imagery. Doing so, the audience fulfils the ambition of both writer Lafcadio Hearn and director Kanako Hiyama--to make East and West meet each other.[dv]
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