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Hello,
My name is Janelle, I am 21 years old, I am French, and my greatest dream is to become a theater director.
I am currently in my first year of a master’s degree in theater at Sorbonne-Nouvelle University in Paris. During my research in my undergraduate studies, I became interested in puppetry and the dialogues between living and inanimate bodies. Then, I began to focus on the concept of the “actor-puppet”—an actor who does not express emotions through facial expressions but rather an empty, disembodied actor who conveys and evokes emotions through gestures and body posture. In fact, I believe that the less an actor is overtly emotional, the more an audience can project their imagination onto them.

In France, most actors learn to perform using their facial expressions but often neglect the use of their bodies. However, in Japanese theater, whether traditional or contemporary, the actor’s body is central and is not considered of lesser importance compared to the text. This is how I became interested in the work of Satoshi Miyagi and the actors of SPAC. My thesis focuses on “the actor-puppet in the theatrical aesthetics of Satoshi Miyagi.” I am trying to understand how SPAC actors transform into puppets, how they achieve such precision in movement, and how they create imagery using their bodies.
I have read many books, articles, and interviews about Miyagi’s work in France, but I wanted to see the creative process of a SPAC production with my own eyes. How do the actors work, and how does Satoshi Miyagi direct them? I also wanted to hear firsthand accounts from the actors about their performance techniques and what they experience on stage, as I believe their perspective might be very different from that of the director. So, I traveled to Japan to do an internship with SPAC.

Even though I had already done several internships before, this was the first time I worked abroad and stayed for such a long period. Even though I am passionate about Japanese culture, I was terrified of making mistakes (due to cultural differences) and of struggling to fit in (as my Japanese is limited and most of the actors are not comfortable with English). But the entire team is incredibly kind, and even though communication is difficult with some, they sometimes use the few French words they know to speak to me, which deeply touches me. I even gave small French lessons to some actors during breaks.
Fortunately, in the world of theater, there are other ways to communicate besides words—such as using our bodies or making music. In fact, one of the first steps in creating the performance was musical exploration. Together, we played musical instruments, improvising with djembes, maracas, and pieces of bamboo. It was my first time using these instruments, but I wasn’t the only one, which made the moment even more fun.

It was truly a unique moment of sharing, where we could communicate purely through rhythm. Thanks to this, I was able to indirectly learn things about people I had never spoken to before. Then, we danced to the beats of the djembes. And I noticed that, while dancing, the actors who had never approached me before—perhaps out of fear of having to use English—joined in and danced with me. They are all amazing people, passionate about theater and incredibly funny. I have never laughed so much while creating a performance.

At SPAC, a significant amount of artistic research takes place before creating a performance. So, in the early afternoon, we watch documentaries and recordings of performances together to seek inspiration. We also did a puppet workshop to explore ideas for the part of the show that will use Shadow Theater.
In France, in most cases, actors simply learn their lines and follow the director’s instructions. It is the director who conducts the research, not really the actors (though this depends on the theater company). The actors at SPAC are more like a class of students who are constantly learning and experimenting with new things, and I believe this is what makes them so strong and ensures the high aesthetic quality of their productions.

Since puppetry is one of my specialties, I contributed some ideas during this workshop. I believe that the purpose of an internship is not just to receive training and gather information but also to share some of my knowledge to help with their work.
I tried to explain the concept of “object theater”(*1) to them. This is a specific form of puppetry in which a human-like puppet is replaced by an object (a cup, a pen, a broom…) whose function symbolizes the personality or characteristics of a character. For example, to represent the god of wind, I suggested using a fan. This fan could be placed in front of another character whose hair would float in the wind. I don’t think they fully understood that I wanted to use the fan itself as a puppet, but they still kept the idea of using wind with a fan and ended up creating puppets using pieces of fabric or lightweight plastic that float in the air.
I was really happy that they listened to and considered my suggestions. I was also able to give some advice and help with building the puppets. Everyone has a great imagination and came up with very interesting ideas that resulted in beautiful imagery.

（*1）For more details please read this definition from “World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts” by Union Internationale de la Marionnettehttps://wepa.unima.org/en/object-theatre/#

So far, working with SPAC and sharing my passion for theater with them has been pure joy. I truly enjoy observing, helping, and exchanging ideas with everyone. I’m not saying this just to please Miyagi or the SPAC staff, but because I genuinely mean it. I am grateful to SPAC for allowing me to come aboard their ship. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

Janelle RIABI

Ramayana
https://festival-shizuoka.jp/en/program/ramayana/
Dates: 29 April at 18:45, 2 May at 18:45, 3 May at 18:45, 4 May at 18:45, 5 May at 18:45, 6 May at 18:45
Venue: Momijiyama Garden Square, Sumpu Castle Park
Duration: Approx 90minutes
Language: In Japanese with English surtitles
*Information about surtitles in other languages will be announced later.
Seat: Reserved-seating
Original work: Valmiki
Structure and direction: MIYAGI Satoshi