The play "Much Ado About Showa," an adaptation of William Shakespeare's work by screenwriter and director Koki Mitani, began performances on May 25th at the Setagaya Public Theater (Setagaya Ward, Tokyo).
"Showa Kara Much Ado About Nothing" is based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," and Mitani is in charge of adapting and directing the play. The cast includes Yo Oizumi, Rie Miyazawa, Ryo Ryusei, Katsumi Takahashi, Katsumi Takahashi, Rie Minemura, Shota Matsushima, and Hajime Yamazaki.
The story is set in a Japanese house in Kamakura. It is the mansion of Professor Naruto (Takahashi), a German literature researcher who works at a university in Tokyo. Professor Naruto, his eldest daughter Biwako (Miyazawa), his second daughter Hiroko (Matsumoto), and the maid Asuka (Minemura) live here. Today, everyone is talking about a traveling troupe of entertainers who are coming to Kamakura for the first time in a long time. Biwako, the eldest daughter, has never liked the star actor of the troupe, Kugizawa Kikutaro (Oizumi), and today she can't stop badmouthing him. Then, the rumored Kikutaro comes to the Naruto mansion with star actor Onoe Sadakuro (Ryusei) and young actor Araki Donpei (Matsushima) to greet them and announce that he is performing for the first time in years.
It's been a while since Biwa and Kikutaro last met, but an intense verbal battle immediately breaks out. When the argument between the two comes to a halt, Sadakuro, left alone with Kikutaro, confesses in a feverish state that he has fallen in love with Hiroko. Then Dokubuchi (Yamazaki), a police officer on patrol, appears... and so the story unfolds.
Biwa, also known as Kikutaro, is always at odds with her. Sadakuro and Hiroko are quietly growing fond of each other. The fate of these two contrasting couples is depicted. Stage photos have also been released.
