新国立劇場俳優研修所の研修生の選考基準を一言で、といわれてもそう簡単に答えられるものではありません。実際、選考方法も数名の委員で何度も討議を重ねています。特定の作品のオーデイションならば、はじめから選考する作品のそのキヤラクターが決まっていますから、たとえ何千人と会おうが、ある程度見た瞬間に①選ぶことは可能でしよう。
ところが研修所では十年後を見据えなければなりません。今、せりふを上手にしゃベることができても、それがいったい何になるのでしよう。高校を卒業したばかりの初々しい十八歳から小劇場を二つくらい経験してきたような三十歳までが集まっています。
せりふを小器用にこなし、敏捷に体を動かせたりすることではなく、基本的にその人間としての輝きを見ること、その輝きが消えることのない情熱によるものとしか答えようがありません。三年間の基礎訓練のなかで、その人が自分をどう見つめ、鍛えていくのか、その後、より大きくなったその人がプロの俳優としてどのような方向へ進んでいくべきなのか、それも同時に考えておくべきことなのです。
また、俳優としての基本的な技術だけを身につけても、それだけではまだ俳優ではありません。自分自身の表現のための確かな演技力と同時に、人間への観察と洞察を続け、世界への理解を深めていかなければ「俳優」にはなれないのです。
音楽家が楽器を使いこなす技術を身につけたうえで、そこから自分の音楽をつくり上げていくように、俳優にも技術力と同時に、表現力と想像力が必要になってくるのです。そこで毎回違った自分と出会うためのレッスンが持続的に必要となり、粘土細工のように一つのカタチをつくってはその歪みに気づいて崩すという作業が繰り返され、いろいろな表現の可能性の幅を広げていくことが、新しい作品と出会うたびに求められるのです。
では「努力は才能を超えるのか」という問いに対して、「素質の発見」が必要だと答えます。誰もが、必ず何かの素質を持っているはずであって、あるときはそれを自分で発見できるように導いてやることも必要でしよう。しかし、自分で自分を見つけることを教える教則本などは、ありません。自分が足を前に出さない限り、教師がいくら動いて見せても無駄であるように。
演劇がどんなに好きであっても、俳優に向いていないこともあります。（中略）また、演劇の仕事を断念し、故郷に戻る人もいるでしょう。しかし、その場合でも、その人たちが故郷に帰って、いい観客になる。もちろん演劇を教える教師を志す人が出るかもしれない。そうやって②間口が広がっていくことで、大切な演劇人が広がっていくことにもなるのです。
（栗山民也『演出家の仕事』岩波新書による）
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
If asked to state in a single phrase the selection criteria for trainees at the New National Theatre's actor training institute, it is not something that can be answered so easily. In fact, even the selection method has been discussed repeatedly by several committee members. If it is an audition for a specific production, the character being cast has already been determined from the outset, so even if you meet thousands of people, it is probably possible to ① select candidates to some extent the instant you see them.
At the training institute, however, we have to look ten years into the future. Even if someone can deliver lines skillfully now, what does that really amount to? Those who gather here range from fresh-faced eighteen-year-olds who have just graduated from high school to thirty-year-olds who have had experience with a couple of small theaters.
Fundamentally, what we look for is not the ability to handle lines deftly or move the body nimbly, but the person's radiance as a human being; all I can say is that this radiance comes from a passion that never fades. During the three years of basic training, we must also consider how that person will examine and discipline themselves and, afterward, once they have grown further, what direction they should take as a professional actor.
Moreover, even after acquiring the basic techniques of acting, that alone does not yet make someone an actor. Along with solid acting ability for expressing oneself, one cannot become an “actor” without continuing to observe and gain insight into human beings and deepening one's understanding of the world.
Just as a musician first acquires the technique to master an instrument and then creates music of their own, an actor needs expressive ability and imagination in addition to technical skill. This is why continuous training is needed in order to encounter a different version of oneself each time; like working with clay, one repeatedly creates a form, notices its distortions, breaks it down, and thereby broadens the range of possible forms of expression whenever one encounters a new work.
So, to the question “Can effort surpass talent?”, my answer is that what is needed is the “discovery of one's aptitude.” Everyone must possess some kind of aptitude, and at times it may be necessary to guide them so that they can discover it for themselves. But there is no textbook that teaches you how to discover yourself. It is like the fact that unless you put your own foot forward, it is useless no matter how many times a teacher demonstrates the movement.
No matter how much someone loves the theater, they may still not be suited to becoming an actor. (Middle omitted) There will also be people who give up working in theater and return to their hometowns. But even in that case, they can return home and become good members of the audience. Of course, some may aspire to become teachers of theater. By ② broadening the gateway in this way, the circle of valuable people involved in theater will also expand.
(Based on Kuriyama Tamiya, The Work of a Director, Iwanami Shinsho)
Comments