Do we really understand those closest
to us? What if people who have avoided talking to each other about
what they truly think start to speak to each other face to face?
The action takes place in a shopping district that retains a strong
flavor of the older quarters of Tokyo. Kanzaki Akio returns to his
parents’ home located somewhere in this district. For Akio,
who has recently been unable to get along well with people either
at work or at home, his parents’ house in Asakusa, where he
was born and raised, is the only place he can feel comfortable in.
However, his mother Fukue, who has been enjoying life alone to the
fullest since his father passed away, seems to be annoyed at his
sudden return. Rather than comforting heart-broken Akio, she ridicules
his failed marriage and devotes all her time to her hobbies, study
and volunteer activities. She looks completely different from whom
she use to be…
Konnichiwa Kasan (Hello, Mummy), which was honored with
numerous awards in 2001, will take the stage at the NNTT once again.
Under the concept of “Presenting dramas where one meets again
people who one should know well,” the play was first performed
to convey a warning that modern people often fall into a lack of
communication with each other. In its premiere, set in a traditional
working-class neighborhood of Tokyo, mother and son, played by Kato
Haruko and Hirata Mitsuru respectively, as well as a number of troubled
persons with marked personalities around them, developed a story
of laughter and tears, becoming the center of conversation in theatrical
circles at the time. With enthusiastic fans looking forward to a
repeat production, the NNTT will restage it this time at the Pit
and subsequently at various locations nationwide, a first for an
NNTT theater program.
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