A Son to Be Proud Of (自慢の息子) by Shu Matsui: Plot and Themes

Introduction

Shu Matsui (松井周, born 1972) is a playwright, director, and actor whose work has been described as challenging conventional values and depicting bleak worlds where human relationships and communication break down. A Son to Be Proud Of (自慢の息子, Jiman no Musuko) won him the 55th Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 2011. The title has also been rendered in English as My Son, My Pride, Favorite Son, and Proud Son.

Matsui joined Oriza Hirata's company Seinendan as an actor in 1996, later also writing and directing there. He left in 2007 to found his own company, Sample (サンプル), which staged A Son to Be Proud Of in 2010.

A Nation in a Small Apartment

The title's ordinary-sounding phrase of parental pride sits against an unusual situation. The play's central figure is a reclusive middle-aged son who lives in a small apartment, where he is "building his own nation." A synopsis of the English translation describes an imaginary country populated with action figures and stuffed toys, and a 2010 preview describes the son as the king of a fictional country.

His mother comes looking for him. Other people then enter the space and pull mother and son out of the positions they have staked out. A preview of the 2010 production identified the play's themes as "self" and "nationality," and Matsui has described it as something like a sequel to his Kazoku no Shozo (Family Portrait, 2008), which also featured a reclusive son and his mother.

Territory and Story

In a 2011 interview with the Japan Foundation, the discussion of the play centers on the competition between parent and child for control of space, with each staking out personal territory. For Matsui, staking out a territory is also a matter of "expanding the realm of one's own story."

He connects this to the family. From the moment parents give a child a name, he says, they label the child with a sort of story. "Seen in this way, even the naming of a child can become an extremely violent act against an individual."

Staging

The first production by Sample ran from September 15 to 21, 2010, at Atelier Helicopter in Osaki, Tokyo, with an English-subtitled performance on September 20. The script was only about one-third written when work began, and Matsui developed the subject in discussion with his staff, with Masashi Nomura involved as dramaturge.

A blanket on the floor shifted and fell into disarray to show changes in the characters' territories. In the final scene, a remote-control helicopter circled above it, an idea that Matsui says came from the stage art staff.

The Kishida Prize and After

Matsui won the 55th Kishida Kunio Drama Award on his third nomination. Speaking soon afterward, he said the prize "may turn out to be a turning point" for him. In the same interview, he said he wants to show that "we can't really understand people."

An English translation by Andy Bragen and Kyoko Yoshida, titled Proud Son, is listed in the Doollee playwrights database as first produced at Ohio Northern University in April 2013. The same entry gives a cast of three men and three women and describes the text as unpublished.

For those interested in Japanese theatrical scripts that explore family relationships in their full complexity, visit our script library to discover a wide range of works.