Reinventing Physical Culture through Yojō-han: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Yasuda Masahiro

Abstract:In his A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2004), Yasuda Masahiro presents his perspectives on human bodies to discuss the subjects of human identity and communication with other people in the modernized Japanese society. He insists that Japanese people have fewer opportunities to recognize their inner condition and gradually lose their ability to interact with other people as they are working as a part in the unified and standardized social system. By adopting the styles and principles of traditional Japanese theatre forms such as noh, which focuses on actors’ physical sensibility, Yasuda has developed his own acting method called Yamanote Method. This method is designed to improve the ability of performers’ physical expressions through various exercises and practices for their flexibility and improvisation. Through Yasuda’s method, the actors can focus on not only their own bodies but also their position in relation to others and the surroundings. By examining Yasuda’s acting method and theories employed in his A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this article explores how the director presents the sense of restraint and anxiety that Japanese people feel in their daily life and the ways of restoring the ability of interacting with other people in a modernized society.