Cute Convenience Store Clerk Iida-san’s stage play “Hungry” will be performed at OFFOFF Theater in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, from July 11 (Thu) to 21 (Sun).
Cute Convenience Store Clerk Iida-san was launched in 2011 as a one-man unit led by Huu Ikeuchi. The group has been creating and presenting works under the theme of “a moment that moves the heart, even if it is only for a second”.
The theme of this performance is “poverty,” and it is the third piece in a series of stories depicting contemporary stress, following “Toriatte” (2022) and “Itabuba Toutoshi” (2023), which were staged under the theme of harassment and bullying and suicide, respectively. It is written and directed by Huu Ikeuchi. The cast includes Narumi Uno, Rei Kobayashi, Koki Chonan, Natsumi Hashimoto, Tomoharu Hirose, Goro Yoshida, and Sho Watanabe.
【Hu Ikeuchi’s comment】
Once, when I was really poor from the bottom of my heart, an acquaintance invited me rafting (river rafting) and I kept refusing, but he was so insistent that I broke down and went with him to Okutama.
Surrounded by nature, I was riding a rubber boat down a clear river when I suddenly thought to myself, “I want to go home. This is about 8,000 yen including transportation.” Surrounded by the slow-moving boat and the excited young people, I thought to myself, “If I were an oil tycoon, I would have enjoyed this rafting experience”. And then I realized.
I realized that we human beings need to have enough capacity in our hearts to enjoy something. It is just like a computer that runs slowly when there is no capacity left. I had an evil mind at that time and looked at the young people who were excited to interact with the other participants with a blank expression and said, “I can see through your desires, you know. I had no other countermeasure but to lower the tension with an attitude of “I can see through your desires,” which ended up further imparting my poverty as a human being.
Time passed, and this year, I was given the title of “uncle of the children’s room. I am sitting in my parents’ house, somewhat reassuming the title of “uncle of the children’s room,” proudly eating curry udon noodles prepared by my mother and saying, “I am charged 10% on everything I buy, 10% on my income, and 10.21% withholding tax from there. Citizen’s tax, national health insurance, pension, and electricity bills are going up. Prices are also gouging ……”
I thought, “This is the most complicated tasting curry udon ever.
Now those who live alone will have to pay rent here. What am I supposed to do? Isn’t it hell?
Theater prices have also gone up, and so has the sales tax. In other words, the cost of materials, theaters, electricity, and box lunches have gone up, and ticket prices are gradually rising. If you look around the world, you will find affiliate marketing, advertising income, investment, and other ways to earn money, but those who cannot find them, those who cannot update their way of thinking from the past, when “working diligently and steadily” was considered a good thing, are dismissed as “incompetent” or “stupid,” and live with narrow shoulders and a miserable feeling. Is that really a good thing? But, is there a direct link between financial poverty and poverty of mind? Even if I am not particularly wealthy, I think it would be good if I had enough money saved up so that I could live without any difficulties, but isn’t that actually becoming more difficult than ever before? I am living my life to protect my current lifestyle while thinking such things.
This time, through poverty, I would like to explore once again how to be happy living in this world.
