Ikuta and Higashiyama play women in stage show

Johnny’s stars Noriyuki
Higashiyama (44) and Toma
Ikuta (25) will play side by side
in the upcoming double stage
show “Madame de Sade/わが
友ヒットラー (Waga Tomo
Hitler, My Friend Hitler)” in
2011, reports Sports Hochi.
The shows, which will run in
Tokyo from February 2 to
March 2, were written by
Japanese playwright Yukio
Mishima (three-time Nobel
Prize for Literature nominee) in
the 1960s and are considered
some of his best. The show
itself will be directed by
veteran theatre director Yukio
Ninagawa (74).
“Madame de Sade” is a play
set in 18th century Paris, where
six women tell their story
about the Marquis de Sade, an
aristocrat imprisoned in the
Bastille for his sensational
escapades and lurid behavior.
Higashiyama will play Marquis
de Sade ’s wife Renee, and
Ikuta will play Renee’s younger
sister Anne. It will be the first
time Ikuta plays a woman, and
the second time Higashiyama
dresses in drag, his first being
during his 2008 stage show “さ
らば、わが愛　覇王別姫
(Saraba, Waga Ai/Haoubekki)”.
The second story, “My Friend
Hitler”, is based on the
historical Night of the Long
Knives incident, where in 1934
the Nazi regime carried out a
number of political executions.
Higashiyama will play Ernst
Rohm, leader of the
Sturmabteilung, who Hitler saw
as a threat to his own power,
while the Nazi leader himself
will be played by Ikuta.
Both plays will be performed
by the same cast, using the
same sets, a challenge which is
exciting its core members.
“We can finally fulfill what
Mishima-san had wanted but
was never able to do, ”
Ninagawa said.
“I’m about to climb up an
immensely steep hill towards
Yukio Mishima ’s world,”
Higashiyama said.
“Since it’s a double show, I
want to start by practising how
to react quickly to the doubled
number of things that ’ll be
thrown at me,” Ikuta said.
Another cast member who has
been confirmed for the show is
Mikijiro Hira (76).
source: MOMOEDGEWOOD