A Japanese language tragic-comedy (more or less a farce) entitled “I Shall Accompany You to Complete This Journey, No Matter How Far I May Travel” was enacted on the stage of L209, College of Liberal Arts, last Friday (June 8).

This one-actor was written, directed and performed ensemble by students from Department of Japanese.

It has not just dialogue, but also lyrics, songs and guitar music: a mixture of wonderful potpourris done by students majoring Japanese.

When the curtain rose, we saw an aging man, with his hunch back, leaning his frail body on a crutch. While holding a karaoke songbook in hand, he narrated to the audience how he used to spend his good old days: a profligate!

In fact, with a snap of his fingers, he became a Ninja, a Tarzan, a Funny Uncle and a Siratori Reiko kind of jokester, and then peals of laughter were bursting out from the audience.

The review of the one-actor may be summed up by a comment made by Miss Huang Yu-ting (Sophomore, Japanese), “Although the ending is tragic, the foolhardy spirit shown by the protagonist “Little Drop” still holds the audience at bay, and his persistent spirit is indeed very touching.”

Mr. Lee Yi-hsien, who has joined twice the theatrical performance, said that after painstaking rehearsals, he has improved a lot his fluency in spoken Japanese. He also learned to interact with his fellow players, and blended his personal life, particularly his young manhood, into the make-believe world. It was quite an experience, he said.

Mr. Hsieh Han-shang, who is the director of the skit, said, “This is something we will remember for many years to come.”

Lastly, another noteworthy thing about this performance is that they have chosen a play fit for student performers, so that the audience would have no problem grasping every word said in the dialogue.