“The appeal of plays based on manga is that the models for facial expressions are in the original work. If I am ever unsure about my acting, I read it again,” says Ms. Sugai.
We are an all-female drama company based in Kumamoto.
Ikumi Sugai
Ikumi Sugai Born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1993. In 2020, she joined the 096k Kumamoto Drama Company as a first-generation member.
As a founding member and lead actress of the 096k Kumamoto Drama Company, Ms. Ikumi Sugai carefully cultivates connections between performers and the audience through stage productions based on manga. We spoke with her in the guest seating at the theater where the company is based.
――First, could you tell us what led you to join the company?
Sugai: It was seeing an announcement on social media looking for troupe members. After moving to Tokyo from my hometown in Fukushima, I worked as a company employee, went to a drama school, and then was working in Tokyo. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and acting jobs disappeared. Just when I was feeling lost, I learned about the founding of this troupe and the recruitment for its first generation of members. I applied thinking, “I don’t want to miss this chance.”
――After joining, you studied acting while living communally in Aso. What have you gained over those five years?
Sugai: Forms of expression that use the whole body, such as dance, sword fighting (tate), and singing. Since I had no experience in any of these, the hurdles were very high for me, but the instructors taught me with great patience. Also, being able to devote myself to theater and having the troupe members always by my side. Being provided with that kind of environment was the biggest thing of all. Each member has their own area of expertise, so if there is something I don’t understand, I can ask them immediately. Furthermore, since the original author, Mr. Nobuhiko Horie, is nearby, I can consult him if I am struggling with character development. I play Keiji Maeda, a “Kabukimono” (eccentric warrior) of the Warring States period. I was worried because I couldn’t grasp the true nature of the character, but because he explained “Kabukimono” to me clearly, I became able to perform the role.
The “Kumamoto Manga Arts” theater features a close distance between the guest seating and the stage, creating a sense of unity. “When I stand on stage, I realize that even the slightest change in expression is conveyed. I feel both a bracing sense of tension and the joy of being able to perform as one with the audience.”
To spend a dreamlike time. I aspire to such a stage, and I am aiming for it.
――What was your family’s reaction to your acting?
Sugai: “It was good,” my mother and older sister, who came to watch last year, told me. My mother loves theater, and she was the one who inspired me to aspire to be an actress. When I was in junior high school, she took me to see a stage performance by TEAM NACS, the group Yo Oizumi belongs to. The moving experience I had there was what made me want to make acting my career. To make people feel both joy and sadness in just two hours. I thought, “If only I could do something like that, too.
Along with my mother and sister, my father also came to Kumamoto. When I resigned from my job to pursue a path in acting, my father opposed it, saying, “Quitting a listed company to become an actress? Can you even make a living? I didn’t think you were the kind of person who ignores reality.” That very father came to see me perform for the first time. Knowing he was in the audience made me nervous.
When we met face-to-face after the show, he didn’t say anything to me. However, I heard from someone else later that he had praised me. “My daughter has been given an important role, and she is striving to fulfill it completely. Understanding that has put my mind at ease.” Apparently, that is what he said. I was so happy.
Ms. Sugai has continued to hone her craft as a founding member of the revue company and as a lead actress. In the beautiful presentation of her profile, I felt I witnessed the deepening of her artistry over these past five years.
――Is there anything you would like to work on going forward?
菅井 I hope to increase the glamour, grace, elegance, and power that are unique to an all-female drama company.
I also hope to work on nurturing the next generation in my own way. At a certain point, we started having both a junior member and myself perform the lead role of Keiji Maeda. I now spend more time thinking about when and with what words I should convey to my juniors the important things I have learned from my experience so far. I never imagined that I would be teaching others, but watching my juniors become able to do things one by one is fun and a happiness to me.
Listening to Ms. Sugai, her ceaseless dedication to polishing her acting and the meticulous care she puts into guiding her juniors came through clearly. Ichikawa En’o II, who was both a Kabuki actor and a director, looked back on his own theater troupe and wrote the following in his autobiography regarding the teaching and learning of acting:
“To teach is to speak of hope together. To learn is to engrave the truth in one’s heart.”
Ms. Sugai speaks of both learning acting and teaching juniors with words of joy. What lies in her future is a stage at even greater heights, which the team—the drama company—is aiming for. The opening bell for that may already be ringing in Ms. Sugai’s ears.
