A new form of Japanese entertainment arrives in Bangkok this week. "Kokoro" ("Heart"), which is being staged at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Thursday and Friday, is a musical but, unlike those with which Thai audiences are familiar, it has just one actor.

The solo performance is the work of composer and pianist Kamio Kenichi and based on the novel of the same name penned in 1914 by Natsume Soseki, a university lecturer considered one of Japan's greatest modern novelists.

"Kokoro" deals in three acts with friendship, family and the means by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness.

The novel has been adapted many times for the stage, but Kenichi's version - focusing on the part where the hero known as Sensei (teacher) and his friend fall in love with the same woman - takes the point of view of Shizu, Sensei's wife.

"There's a mysterious quality to the novel that lets the reader interpret it as he wishes," says Kenichi, whose previous musicals include "Mary Magdalene" and "Mitsukoshi Family Theatre Summer/Winter".

"Shizu is independent-minded, unlike other women of her era, and that makes her story interesting."

Actress and singer Ruruko Minakawa portrays Shizu in Bangkok, reprising her role following the musical's well-attended premiere in Tokyo in 2004 and subsequent performances there last year.

"Soseki based Shizu's character on a composite of three women - his wife, who was very clever; the Shogun's wife, who was very wealthy; and a woman with a wonderful sense of humour with whom he was once is love," Kenichi says.

"She is a nice woman with strong emotions," adds Minakawa, 26.

Bangkok is the first stop of a world tour for Kenichi and Minakawa, who will be taking the show on to Taiwan, Paris and London.

Tickets cost Bt2,000, Bt1,200, Bt1,000 and Bt500 and are available at Thaiticketmaster. The curtain rises at 8pm.

Kitchana Lersakavanitchakul

The Nation