TUFS Students Perform Portuguese Play in Oizumi, Gunma

February 8, 2018

On Saturday the 9 ^th of December, TUFS second-year students majoring in Portuguese held a performance of the Brazilian comedy " Lisbela e o Prisioneiro", a play which they performed at the 2017 Gaigosai, at the small hall of the Oizumi Bunkamura in Gunma Prefecture (sponsored by the Consulate General of Brazil in Tokyo). The performance almost drew a full house, with audience members including the Mayor of Oizumi, Mr. Toshiaki Murayama, and the vice-consul of the Brazilian consulate-general in Japan, Luiza Horta Barbosa. There are many Brazilians living in Oizumi. On the day of the performance, many Brazilian residents brought their families along, who of course reacted immediately without needing to read the subtitles, making the students even more enthusiastic in their performance.
Also, before the play began, a performance was given by the local children of the orchestra "Musicians without Borders".
After the performance, the students enjoyed interacting with the children.

Comments from the Students

Keita Kitagawa (leader, School of Language and Culture Studies, Portuguese language studies, second year)

I learnt a lot about the beauty of creating a play, sometimes while clashing with others, and the difficulty and enjoyment experienced from understanding and expressing other cultures. From the performance at Oizumi, which was made possible thanks to the support of many people, I learnt about the diversity of culture. This play turned out to be an experience that taught me many things.

Hinako Sato (production, School of Language and Culture Studies, Portuguese language studies, second year)

This once-in-a-lifetime experience of being in a Portuguese play, and being able to see it through to the very end with the best cast, crew and professors, has become a very precious memory for me. I am really grateful for all of the people, including my classmates, who got involved in this play.

Kenta Hashimoto (leading actor, School of Language and Culture Studies, Portuguese language studies, second year)

I am really glad from the bottom of my heart that I participated in this play. That I was able to improve my Portuguese goes without saying, but I also was able to learn about many valuable things such as the difficulties of taking on a challenge like this as a group. This play, that we poured our heart and souls into, is a treasure to me.