The Restaurant of Many Orders

Ayako Araki, Sae Namba and Tetsuro Koyano

One of the offerings for this year’s celebration of the 40^th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation was the curiously titled show The Restaurant of Many Orders by the Koike Hiroshi Bridge Project. Presented by the Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM) and held at the Cultural Centerof the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater), this show combines theater, music and dance in telling one of the most popular fairy tales in Japan.

The Restaurant of Many Orders is originally a novel by Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa and is regarded as one of his masterpieces. Japanese director Hiroshi Koike turned the novel into a new theatrical production which he wrote, directed and choreographed. I’ve never read the novel nor tried to find out what the story was all about prior to watching. And this somehow forced me to be very attentive in watching the production. The Restaurant of Many Orders is about a trio of hunters played by Tetsuro Koyano, Sae Namba and Ayako Araki who get lost in the woods due to bad weather and end up in a restaurant called The Mountain Cat Inn Restaurant. The three hunters were relieved to find such a spot and thought that they could ease their hunger by dining in it. But the restaurant was not the typical restaurant. I initially thought that the show's title meant that the restaurant had many items in the menu that could be ordered. But it was actually a play on words and that it was really the customers who were ordered around while inside the restaurant as they were being prepped to be the items in the menu. I was a bit alarmed when I figured out the hunter had become the prey considering that this was supposed to be a famous fairy tale for children. I admit that this caught me off guard and left me a bit disturbed. The hunters were able to get out of the restaurant alive but not particularly well since they've had the marks of their harrowing experience there.

Sae Namba, Ayako Araki, National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose,
Tetsuro Koyano and Hiroshi Koike

The three performers played multiple roles switching from human to animal throughout the show. The staging and set design was very minimalist and it truly highlighted the complicated choreography that bordered on contemporary dance. The actors also sang in three part harmonies which impressed me a lot since with the almost atmospheric music, it was hard to make out a pitch. Even though the story was a bit disturbing, there were still some humorous portions like when the Japanese actors counted in Filipino. And the audience had to take a moment to let it sink in before they could react to it.

I felt that some of the Filipino audience members on that night were not be able to fully understand the story because of the different manner of presentation. We always expect a spectacle and eye candy with grand, colorful sets when it comes to theater productions and this one relied heavily on the actor performances. I always try to watch with an open mind and always be receptive to new ideas, forms and experiences. After the show, during the meet and greet, many in the audience showed their appreciation by congratulating the performers and having their photos taken with them.