I came across this article on Jun-kun so I decided to paste it here :woot:
Transcendent 'East of Eden' / 'Every man can identify' with Matsumoto's character
Mikiko Miyakawa / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Cal Trask lives. Fifty years after the death of actor James Dean, who played Trask in the movie East of Eden, the fictional character is being revived on the stage of The Globe Tokyo in a more contemporary, fascinating incarnation in the form of actor Jun Matsumoto.
Playing the same role as Dean (1931-1955) sounds like tremendous pressure for any actor, but Matsumoto says he's not overly worried, adding that the impressions he got of the character from the movie and play were different.
"I think it's different. The character is described a bit differently," says Matsumoto, who also is a member of pop music group Arashi.
Director Yumi Suzuki says that those who expect a straightforward reproduction of the Dean film may feel a bit betrayed.
The Globe Tokyo presents East of Eden as the second play at the theater to mark the 50th anniversary of Dean's death, following Rebel Without a Cause, which was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi and starred another Arashi member, Kazunari Ninomiya.
Like Dean's film, the theatrical version of East of Eden is based on Part IV of the 1952 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck (1902-1968), who is perhaps best known for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
East of Eden, which borrows its title from the Bible verse Genesis 4:16, spans three generations from 1862 to 1918. The fourth chapter of Genesis tells the story of Cain and Abel, rival brothers whose names are echoed in the novel's characters Cal and Aron.
Both the Dean film and The Globe Tokyo play are set in the Salinas Valley in California in 1917, before the start of World War I.
Cal is a young man who loves his father but was betrayed by his mother. The character is described as a smart but delicate, sensitive and lonely young man.
"Similar characters have been described over and over by many playwrights," Suzuki says.
Among such characters are Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Jim in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, and Konstantin in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.
"In this regard, Cal is the sort of character with whom every man can identify," she said.
Matsumoto, 21, says he feels the same way.
"I think something I have in myself or the way I feel is not so different from what Cal would have felt, even though I haven't had exactly the same experiences as him," he says.
For instance, he says, he can understand sibling rivalry, comparing that between Cal and Aron with that between his sister and himself.
He also says he felt marginalized, just as Cal did, through his experience at primary and middle school, where students were always strictly ranked according to their academic performances.
Suzuki says having an actor like Matsumoto in this play has a special significance.
"He gives the part of Cal Trask a contemporary feel, and I believe this is an important part of moving through the play hand-in-hand with the audience," said Suzuki, who leads Jitensha Kinqureat's Company, adding that she does not ask actors to "behave" like people who lived in the 1910s.
Instead, she gave careful consideration to props, even more than the film did, she said, to ensure the correct period feel.
What Suzuki wanted to focus on in this play was the relationship among the characters, however.
"Whenever I produce a play, I always ask individual actors to carefully think about the relationships of their characters with other characters," she said. "What he or she thinks about someone, and when and how the feeling changes--I find this very important."
Because both the film and Suzuki's production are based on Steinbeck's novel, the plot is basically the same, but Suzuki says relationships among characters were described somewhat differently from the film.
In the 1955 movie, directed by Elia Kazan, the character of Cal's father, Adam Trask, is described as extremely high-handed. But in The Globe Tokyo version, the father struggles to understand Cal.
The audience will also find Aron and his mother Kate quite different from their portrayals in the film, Suzuki says.
But instead of focusing on a certain relationship, Suzuki wishes to describe the struggles of all eight characters, all of whom fail to have a happy family life.
"None of them know where they should be or how to convey their love to others," Suzuki said.
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Growing as an actor
Prior to his performance in East of Eden, Matsumoto appeared twice on the stage as an actor--as Teddy in the 1997 production of Stand by Me, and as Bernardo in the 2004 musical West Side Story. But this is the first time for him to play the leading role in a show.
"It doesn't particularly worry me," he says.
Since joining Arashi in 1999, Matsumoto has been active not only as a singer but also an actor, starring in TV dramas, films and plays.
But he thinks he learns more from stage performances.
"In the shooting of TV dramas and films, I feel like the most important thing is just being there," he said. "But on the stage, you learn so many things in the process of completing a production."
While the audience rarely sees an actor's entire body or movements on TV or in films, onstage he feels his every movement is being observed by the audience.
"So, I feel like everything, even parts that should not have been shown, is exposed to scrutiny," he says.
"It would be great if I could continue to perform on the stage at least once a year in addition to my activities as an Arashi member," he adds.
The play also features Kenji Kohashi as Aron, Yuri Mizutani as Abra Bacon, Kazuhisa Kawahara as Will Hamilton, Shiiko Utagawa as Amanda Raynold, Gentaro Nagataki as her younger brother Randy, Gin Pun Cho as Kate and Kenkichi Hamahata as Adam.
"East of Eden" will be performed through May 21, 1 p.m., 6 p.m., or 7 p.m., at The Globe Tokyo in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, and May 27, 7 p.m., and May 28-29, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Theater Brava! in Osaka.
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