Escorting the City Mayor

 

 At the beginning of the 1990s, I was a university student. I had a part-time job as an actor. Was I a real actor? No, I was acting in costume as a mascot so my face was covered. But acting in costumes was very interesting. It required a skilled technique. I worked very hard as a masked actor.

 One day, I was offered a job at an opening ceremony of a station shopping mall complex in T-city. When I received the timetable of the ceremony, automatically I looked for the climax of the show where I would act.

The timetable said:

“The city mayor says a word of congratulations on the stage. The mascot escorts him to the stage.”

This had to be the climax. In those days, mayors had dignity. They were local celebrities. They were not friendly types. But mascots could act in a friendly way with them. It was good for a mayor’s popularity. I planned to be very friendly to the mayor but not harm his dignity. It could be an interesting performance.

 On the day of the performance, I arrived at the venue too early because I was too eager. I entered a coffee shop to kill time. Then I read a newspaper of the day. The newspaper said:

“The mayor of T-city has been arrested for corruption.”

The mayor whom I supposed to escort had been arrested the day before! My acting plans were all in vain.

When we gathered at the venue, the director briefly announced to us that “the mayor has cancelled the event”. He didn’t explain why.

 At that time, the mayor was probably being escorted by policemen instead of me.

 

Picture by sayz

Julius Caesar was a script writer?

 

 I have been reading books about ancient Rome recently.

 Julius Caesar was a soldier and a politician in ancient Rome. But he was also an incredible writer. We can buy his works, “Commentaii de Bello Gallico” and “Commentarii de Bello Civili”, in book stores. His works have not lost their commercial value for two thousand years. Of course you can buy Japanese versions in Japan. He must be one of the most outstanding writers in history.

 According to a book I read, he was a late bloomer as a soldier and as a politician. He started his historical career when he was over forty years old. During his twenties and thirties he was just a famous playboy. And apparently he wrote some scripts for the stage. He loved the theater.

 “And you too, Brutus?”

He was assassinated when he was fifty-five years old. At that time his love letters and scripts were published and people could read them. But his achievements as a soldier and a politician took precedence.

 His heir was Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. He deified Julius because his accomplishments were so great. Augustus banned the publication of Julius’s love letters and scripts because they would have compromised his deification since they were inappropriate. Unfortunately, Augustus lived a long life. His was a long and stable administration. The subsequent emperors maintained his stance towards the scripts. Regrettably, the scripts written by Julius Caesar have been lost.

 The lost scripts could be more interesting than “Julius Caesar” which was written by William Shakespeare who was younger than Julius Caesar by one thousand six hundred years. I want to read the scripts. I want to perform the scripts! Don’t you?

 Unfortunately for Julius Caesar the playwright, he was too great as a soldier and as a politician.

 My dear friends, theatrical people! If you are a theatrical person, you shouldn’t be a soldier or a politician. You will definitely achieve great things like Julius Caesar. Then somebody will eliminate your achievements as a theatrical person.

 

Picture by Ceakus