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Curtain Call: an Interview with Michael Walker
By Achim Runnebaum
Friday night in a smoky Karaoke Bar in Imaike. Usually bad singing and Karaoke go hand in hand, which is why all ears perked up when Mike grabbed the microphone and the whole place erupted with incredible sound. Nobody would have expected him to be able to capture people's attention like that, but that's Mike....... a multitalented, complex individual who has become a regular contributor to the Nagoya Art Scene with his plays.
"Aren't you the guy from the Nagoya Players?" That's the question Mike gets all the time, and even though he's worked with the Nagoya Players before, Mike has established himself as an independent director, actor, and all around Theater Guru in Nagoya in the last couple of years. He's formed his own Company, Maidenagoya and keeps putting out very interesting and thought provoking plays... We caught up with Michael in Sakae and sat down to get the whole story of his successful Theater career.
RAN: Tell me how the whole acting/directing thing got started for you.
Michael: I grew up in a small town south of Sydney and was into all kinds of sports, especially cricket. When I was 21, I was living in London to play cricket, and had the chance to meet a friend in Edinburgh. As fate would have it, the biggest arts festival in the world was held at that time. During my stay there, I was offered a job and ended up staying there for a while. I worked in a youth hostel and got to meet all kinds of incredible people from all over the world. Through working at the Hostel and being involved in their activities, I got bitten by the acting bug and knew that's what I wanted to do in my life. After a year, I came back to Australia, gave up cricket completely, and wanted to become an actor, so I started acting school.
RAN: It's interesting how one little trip can change your life. Who were some of your first acting idols:
Michael: Oh, you know, the Ratt Pack: Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Demi Moore, and all the famous actors from the 80's.
RAN: What was the next step after acting school for you?
Michael: After 3 years of acting school, I worked little odd jobs here and there just trying to get experience. I did commercials, and even one feature film. It was very low budget and shot in only 16 days, but it got a nomination from the AFI (Australian Film Association) and was relatively successful. It was called Occasional Coarse Language. Through that movie, I got to meet Kylie Minogue, who came out for support, and the Australian Band called "Living End" played at the opening, so it was a great experience overall.
RAN: Getting to meet Kylie is always a great experience, I can imagine. Speaking of the beauty of Australia, why did you give up the wonderful beaches of Australia for the concrete jungle of Nagoya?
Michael: (hahah) Well, I ended up in debt over a short film, and had to pay the money, so in desperation I looked through the paper one day and saw an ad for working in Japan. Initially I wanted to come for only one year, make some money, pay for the film and then go back to Australia... That was about 10 years ago..
RAN: So much for that one year.
Michael: yeah I met a girl here, we had a baby girl together and of course the original plan changed completely after that.
RAN: You've made quite a name for yourself here in Nagoya though. What are your thoughts about the art scene in our beloved city?
Michael: Nagoya's artistic community is still very small, so People who do things become known rather quickly here. There's still a lot of room for new talent.
RAN: In your opinion, how has the art scene changed in Nagoya since you came here?
The art scene in Nagoya has changed a lot recently. There are more and more small bands popping up all over the place, and a lot of people doing their own thing, which is very good, I think....
RAN: Speaking of doing your own thing, how did you get started with your own theater company?
Michael: I did a couple of shows with The Nagoya Players and directed a couple of plays for them, which was a great experience. However, I really liked the smaller, non-rigid independent theater productions like back home, where theatre is so much more diverse with little pockets of theater in bars or small venues, which is a fantastic way of seeing a show, I think, so wanted to try something different. At first it was just going to be one play, Death and the Maiden. We got this little place in Ikeshita called Theater moon, and we worked with just a skeleton crew of about 7 people. At that time we didn't even have a name yet. The play went reasonably well, and people encouraged us we should continue to do theather. Sometime after that, a friend gave me a play called "Bent", which I had never heard of before. I read it and was enthralled by its power, its humor and its subject matter, which was just unbelievable. I had no idea if and how I could do it, but I had to try.
side note: it was during the preparatory stage of that play that I'd first met Michael since he asked me to train his actors in using a German accent for the play.
During the preparations for Bent, we realized we needed a name for our company. After a little thinking, we decided on "Maidenagoya", because Maiden was our first play, and if you say it fast, it sounds like "Made in Nagoya"...
RAN: Oh yeah, I never thought of that before. Nice play on words. Now, your next play is coming up soon, right?
Michael: Yes, our 5th play is coming in November. After Romeo and Juliet, which was just so huge.....we took it over to Tokyo, and there were about 50 people working on that play, so I wanted to do something a bit smaller scale again, and we did a small dinner theater show at Red Rock Bar. So for this next play I wanted to do something a bit bigger again. It's called Cosi, which is actually short for Cosi fan tutte. It's an Opera originally by Mozart. The play is the first Australian play in Nagoya. It's a comedy, which is another first for me.
RAN: Can you tell me a little about the story without giving away too much of the plotline?
Michael: It's about a young guy who agrees to direct patients in a mental institution. The Play is set in 1971, so the context is the Vietnam war. He took the job just to make some money.
RAN: Sounds familiar. I think many people here in Nagoya can relate to that, right Mike?
Michael: (laughs) I certainly know what that's like. After all, that's why I first came to Japan. Anyway, his goal is to try and get the patients to come out of their comfort zone a bit. So he wants to do some kind of theater with them. Of course one of the patients suggest they do this opera. None of the patients can sing, or even speak Italian, so the play follows them as they try to put this opera together. It's a comedy, but it also explores human themes such as identity, belonging in the world, relationships, trust, etc. It has many different layers to it, which is what I like.
RAN: Very cool! Looking forward to that. Now, you've acted internationally in England, Australia, and in Japan. How do you think the audience is different in Japan?
Michael: That's a good question... I think audiences here fall into 2 categories: 1) the kinds of people we bring along, such as students, friends, etc. who are quite supportive, and then 2) the other group are more interested in English or foreign theater. When the audience is predominantly filled with people whose English is not so strong, it can be a bit difficult. I've never used subtitles in my plays because I think it takes away from the whole experience, so for them it can be a bit challenging at times, but I hope they still have a good time in the end. Also, in Japan it's a bit more difficult to read an audience. When you're an actor on stage and you get that energy from the audience it's one of the best feelings for us and when you don't get that emotion from them, you start to wonder if you're doing something wrong.... Here in Japan it's a bit more difficult to read an audience as a performer. You can't interpret things the same way as you would back home.
RAN: I can imagine it must be quite difficult to really convey the various types of emotions in plays. Where do you find your inspiration as a director and actor?
Michael: Honestly, I find it in the people I work with. It's an amazing experience to have these creative people around who have their own view of the world, which you couldn't possibly have come up with on your own. Also I draw a lot of inspiration from my life, so if there's a difficult issue or something very good happens to me, I tend to use that as a base from which to perform from or direct from.
RAN: Ok last question. You've been in Japan on and off for about 10 years now. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Michael: Mhmmm, I ask myself that question all the time....I love Japan and I have a daughter here,but I would hope that in 10 years time I've moved on and living in a place where I can do this full time and have that connection with other people who also see this as their sole livelihood, so I think it would be great to have that connection in a professional environment. Where that is, whether it's in Australia or in England I don't know yet.
RAN: Great! Maybe we'll see your name on Broadway or in London sometime in the near future. Anything you'd like to add?
Michael: I think that what you guys are doing with the magazine, creating your own thing is great; you guys kicked ass with the first issue and I hope you're gonna keep going with it.
RAN: (Laughs) We will, and thank you for the interview. (Damn right we will! --Ed.)
Michael:No worries, I'm glad I was a part of it. Thank you very much.
Although Mike's last bit of thesbian joy, Cosi, is over, you can check out what the Maiden Nagoya folks have in store by visiting their website at www.maidenagoya.com.
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