Kenta Yamazaki | Nakano-sakaue Demons "Saru" (Monkey)
Nakano-sakaue Demons' new play "Saru" explores the artist's fate and the burden of existence through absurd scenarios.Summary
Nakano-sakaue Demons' new work, "Saru" (Monkey), written and directed by Mohe Matsumori, continues the theme of artistic karma established in their previous work, focusing intensely on the inescapable nature of an artist's burden, summarized by the tagline: "Three things bestowed upon people from 'Kami': money, work, and a small play about madness." The play begins in a nearly empty izakaya where the inexperienced new part-timer, Hamada, struggles to serve the persistent customer, Satomura, whose manager is missing. Their absurd confrontation escalates when a former employee, Chiba, arrives, leading to conflicts over money and past grievances. The plot takes a sharp turn when Satomura reveals she is a fan of Hamada, who was once a circus performer known as Daniel Hamada, and offers him 1 million yen to return to the stage. This leads to a high-stakes gamble involving a box containing a severed "monkey's hand" (a reference to W.W. Jacobs' story), culminating in Hamada losing his own hand while Chiba escapes with the money. The reviewer concludes that the play questions who gains what and what price is paid, suggesting that Hamada gained only a new "monkey's hand" (his own severed hand) as a substitute, and ultimately reflecting on the inescapable nature of the artist's drive, which the audience itself perpetuates.
(Source：artscape)