BY NAOKO IWASA

The original musical of the Shiki Theater Company, "Yuta and His Wonderful Friends" was performed at the Hokkaido Social Security Pension Hall in Sapporo from May 17 to 19. It conveyed to the audience how wonderful it is to live and the importance of having friends.

The hero of the musical, Yu-ta, lost his father and moved with his mother back to her village. However, he is bullied by his classmates in the village and is always alone. The village children call him "Yuta" with a short "u" sound, and make a fool of him. He cannot fight back against them because he is weak and without physical strength. He thought about killing himself in sorrow because they do not let him play with them and he is always lonely.

One day, an old man called Torakichi, who takes his side and cares about him, suggests becoming friends with "Zashikiwarashis"―a kind of spirit. They are actually invisible beings, and only Yuta can see them (the audience also can see them on the stage, though). They are said to help lonely people who don't have any friends. One evening he meets five Zashikiwarashis. Then he finds out that they are spirits who died in a big famine or were victims of infanticide who couldn't live even if they wanted to live. However, they say to him "you should cherish to live more. Just being alive by itself is wonderful. You must better your life by yourself. Stand tall with all your courage," and they encourage him. Then he became friends with the spirits. The five spirits followed and helped him.

When he finally finds his courage and strength he is no longer bullied by the other children. Then the five spirits come to say good-bye to him because he had became robust and was no longer alone any more and was able to live without their help.

The setting of this play is a little village in Tohoku. The characters speak in the Southern Aomori Dialect. It seems that the producer worked hard at introducing the peculiarly beautiful provincial accent. In addition to that, there are other highlights as well. We associate musicals with songs and dance. But in "Yuta and His Wonderful Friends," I was unable to take my eyes off each actors' performance and their wonderful personalities as they sang and danced　especially the five spirits who suffered a bitter destiny invited laughter in the hall many times. The whole audience, from little children to adults, were absorbed in actors' performances. The scene where the spirits entered was surprising. The whole stage was lit by laser beams, and everyone held their breath in anticipation of what would happen from then on. The stage completely captured the audience's hearts.

Though the spirits are portrayed as very cheerful and powerful in this story, in fact they were killed in childhood and couldn't live even if they want to. Therefore, those spirits know the value of living more than anyone else. The splendidness of life seems to be forgotten in the present world where various murders and child abuse exists. We must treasure our life more. And we must be kind to our friends. Friends are necessary to our lives. They are irreplaceable treasures just like the Zashikiwarashis sing in the spirits song "one for all, all for one."

"Yuta and His Wonderful Friends" is a musical which reminds us of strength, courage and pure feelings that are being forgotten. I have seen some of the Shiki Theater Company's performances before, but it is the first time to see the entire audience give a standing ovation at the curtain call. I hope as many people as possible go to the theater and enjoy it.