Sato Takeru and Ishihara Satomi talk “Romeo & Juliet”: aramatheydidnt

Next week, the Akasaka ACT Theatre in Tokyo is finally going to raise the curtain for the latest stage adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” starring young actor Sato Takeru and actress Ishihara Satomi. On April 29th, the two of them found some time to talk about the play ahead of a public general rehearsal for the mass media.

“Romeo & Juliet” is going to mark the debut stage play for Sato, who commented, “My excitement is going through the roof. Of course I’m also very anxious, but at the same time I cannot wait for people to finally be able to see this play.” Ishihara agreed with him and added, “I really want everyone to experience the beautiful set, music, outfits and words as soon as possible.”

Of course not everything was easy for Sato when getting into his first starring role in a stage play. “I’ve never thought that I would have such hardship,” he revealed. “However, I want to work as hard as possible, so that I won’t have any regrets later on!” When asked about some of the more difficult parts of the production, he said, “I have to use words that I usually don’t use, which makes it difficult to get into the right feeling. Instead of expressing my feelings between the lines, it’s important to put my feelings into every single word, which was very difficult for me.”

About his co-star Ishihara, he commented, “She possesses an overwhelming aura. The moment when Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight was a new and overwhelming experience for me, but thanks Ishihara’s incredibly convincing performance, I was able to feel it inside me as well.”

For Ishihara, on the other hand, this moment didn’t seem to be feel too new. “Everyone understands what it feels like to fall in love at first sight,” she explained and revealed, “I’ve already experienced it as well.”

Then Ishihara returned the favor and praised his acting. “Please have a self-confidence, Sato!” she said. “He had memorized his lines since the first practice sessions and is able to recite them very well.” She continued, “He’s a person who carefully puts a lot of emotions into his acting without making it look fake. I’m glad that I was able to work with such a person for this play.”

They also talked about the inevitable kiss scene during the play. Sato revealed, “When we stared with the practice, I always wondered when we would try the kiss scene, when director Jonathan Munby suddenly told us to do it. It happened at an earlier rehearsal than I planned, although my plan to create a fresh kiss scene didn’t really bear any fruits, it does feel like a good scene. (laughs)“.

Ishihara just smiled and replied, “Yes, it is.”

The public performances for “Romeo & Juliet” in Tokyo will begin on May 2nd and end on May 27th. Right after that, the performances in Osaka will begin on May 31st and end on June 10th.