The director and cast of the play �Troilus and Cressida� held a public rehearsal at the Sai no Kuni Saitama Art Hall and attended a press event after. In attendance were director Ninagawa Yukio and actors Yamamoto Yusuke, Tsukikawa Yuki, Shioya Shun, Hosogai Kei and Ono Takehiko.

�Troilus and Cressida� is the 26th�installment of the �Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series� and the 6th production from the very popular �All Male Series�, where the entire cast is made up of male actors. Regarding the play, Ninagawa commented, �I�m nervous. It was an intense rehearsal, but everyone did a good job. I�m really looking forward to it.�

Yamamoto, who plays the lead character Troilus, expressed, "Starting tomorrow, it's going to be the real show, I want to put my spirit into in and present a wonderful stage play for everyone." Ninagawa, who seemed to have pushed Yamamoto hard during rehearsals as Yamamoto said, "For the last scene, I received a thousand knocks and was depressed that I couldn't act it out well enough. However, I realized that it's not about the ability or technique of the actor, but about pulling the audience in with my feelings." Ninagawa then added, "I want him to surpass those actors like Oguri (Shun) and (Fujiwara) Tatsuya." Yamamoto humbly responded, " No no, I want to learn by looking at the backs of senpais..."

Yamamoto and Tsukikawa �have a passionate kiss scene in the play. The two were also cast as lovers in "Taming of the Shrew", and there is already great chemistry between the two actors. Yamamoto expressed that he didn't feel uncomfortable during the scene, while Tsukikawa mentioned, "I didn't have any resistance to this. In response to the intense love from him, I needed to express my love as best as I could."

Questions posed at the event naturally became directed at Shioya. Shioya was recently embroiled in a scandal when he was found to be two-timing model Tominaga Ai and chef-cum-talent Sonoyama Makie. In this play, he plays Diomedes, a Greek messenger who arrives in Troy to exchange prisoners with the Trojans. Diomedes splits up Troilus and Cressida, and takes Cressida for himself. In response to the role, reporters remarked, �It�s a role that snatches someone else�s lover right?� to which director Ninagawa immediately quipped, �It�s coming. It�s coming. You better not cry!� Another reporter asked Shioya, �Is it good that there are no ladies around?� and he grinned as he nodded, �Indeed.�

Regarding the choice of Shioya Shun for the role, Ninagawa commented, �Isn�t he beautiful in a vain, purposeless way?� He also added, �At the time when the casting was done, I didn�t know about that (scandal). There were a lot of problems soon after that, but that doesn't matter. You got to work hard, you fool!� encouraging Shioya in a loud voice. As the reporters kept posing questions to Shioya, Ninagawa shut them down smiling with a comment: �This isn�t just Shioya�s performance, so that's enough.�

�Troilus and Cressida� will be playing at the Sai no Kuni Saitama Art Hall from 8/17 to 9/2.

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Source: Cinema Today and NTV News24
Image: Cinema Today