Article: Kabuki theater gets a modern facelift

Kabuki theater gets a modern facelift

Colin Skelton / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

Old-fashioned kabuki serves as a fountain of inspiration for an
exciting contemporary Tokyo-based theater troupe, Ryuzanji Company.

Founded in 1984 by director Show Ryuzanji, the group raises the
curtain on the new year with the "Ryuzanji Kabuki New Year
Performance Series" in celebration of their 20th anniversary. Two
different performances based on kabuki plays will be held during a
10-day period ending Jan. 16 at the Benisan Pit in Koto Ward, Tokyo.

There will be 11 performances of Sakurahime Omoteura Daikitan,
adapted by Norihiko Tsukuda. The second play, Kamikakete Sango
Taisetsu (The Love-Crazed Samurai), adapted by Kiyokazu Yamamoto,
will be performed three times, with subtitles in English (Jan. 13),
Chinese (Jan. 15) and Russian (Jan. 16). Both plays are based on
stories originally written by Tsuruya Namboku.

Japan, and in particular Tokyo, boasts a large number of smaller
experimental theater groups and individuals who are part of a
creative underground.

Led by avant-garde artists, these small theater movements emerged in
the 1960s, born out of a rebellion against overregimented postwar
Japanese society. Ryuzanji Company shares the research-oriented and
experimental approach that characterize independent underground
theater movements.

Director Ryuzanji is an energetic theater artist who has been active
in Japan's small theater movements since 1970. He is an accomplished
actor, producer and director, having directed over 200 plays during
his career, including Educating Mad Persons, written by Shuji
Terayama. He started Ryuzanji Company with the intention
of "facilitating a horizontal affiliation among small theater
activists."

Consequently, Ryuzanji Company produces performances using talent
from different genres: traditional and contemporary, dance and
theater. They are also active internationally, and in 2000 were
awarded the grand prix "Best Of Fringe" for their performances of
Educating Mad Persons at the Victoria Fringe International Theater
Festival in Canada.

Sakurahime Omoteura Daikitan is the complicated story of a high-
ranking priest who, after failing to commit suicide with his male
lover, falls in love with a beautiful young princess. Chased by the
princess' evil rogue lover, the two escape only to meet very
different fates. The priest accidentally dies, and the princess
becomes a prostitute for a short time. The central appeal of the
play is the idea of a princess becoming a prostitute, which was met
with fascination by audiences when the play was first performed in
1817.

The main character in The Love-Crazed Samurai is taken from a famous
kabuki play, Chushingura, which is based on one of Japan's most
famous revenge vendetta episodes. The real-life incident took place
in 1702, when 47 samurai avenged their master's death.

The protagonist in The Love-Crazed Samurai is one of these 47
samurai. He is a ronin, or a samurai without a master, who is kicked
out of his clan when a large sum of money is stolen while he is on
guard duty. He sets about retrieving the money in order to regain
his status and lead an attack upon a rival clan that had killed his
master.

Ryuzanji Company describes The Love-Crazed Samurai as a play about
wrongdoers, the fate of men and a woman blinded by money and about
men who deceive and kill each other in the furtherance of uchiiri, a
justified raid for a noble cause. This play is full of atrocities,
laughing at didactic stories where good always wins in the end. The
Namboku world created by playwright is dry and vacant. Kamikakete
Sango Taisetsu is full of wickedness and eros, and is a very
modernistic play.

Ryuzanji and his company believe that kabuki is "the fountainhead of
Japanese stage art." They are inspired by the parallel themes
dealing with human interaction that exist in the ancient stories of
kabuki plays and modern-day society. Written in the language of the
time, kabuki plays often take many hours to perform, and therefore
the adaptation process requires a reduction in length of the plays
while maintaining the essence of the story itself.

"By thoroughly modernizing the language of kabuki, we can
reconstruct kabuki from the Edo period (1603-1868) into a
contemporary play," says Ryuzanji. He adds that performing a kabuki
play written 180 years ago in the present day poses an inviting
challenge as to how people today breathe life into words written so
long ago.

In adapting the stories, Ryuzanji has sought to create a unique
style of contemporary "Ryuzanji Kabuki." This he achieves first by
simplifying and reducing the elaborate visual spectacles often found
in kabuki plays. Second, the play is re-created through the combined
effort of all the members of the ensemble. The result is a unique
and entertaining style of performance in which the actors' physical
expression carries the story of the play.

"Originally in kabuki there were no directors. The actors themselves
are largely responsible for creating their own part," explains
Ryuzanji. "Our performances follow this example by a very open
attitude to stage direction where the ideas of the actors,
choreographers and musicians are all given consideration in the
rehearsal process. The actors' movements and emotional expressions
become more important than the story itself. Our performances are
experimental but at the same time very entertaining."

Traditional kabuki is performed only by male actors. Obvious
adaptations that Ryuzanji has made in The Love-Crazed Samurai
include his casting a female actress, Hiroko Ito, in the lead
samurai role, and his conscious combination of elements from kabuki
and the all-female Takarazuka Revue.

"The main theme for both plays is war and universal judgment,"
Ryuzanji says. "I feel that these themes can sometimes be more
accentuated and explained by a woman."

Audiences can also expect original percussion music performed on
stage during performances in tune with the Ryuzanj Company's
motto: "Dancing, singing and loving."

The company tells ancient stories through dynamic, sensitive
movements and choreographed fight scenes with contemporary relevance
in what Ryuzanji jokingly calls "Tarantino Kabuki."


"Sakurahime Omoteura Daikitan" will be performed Jan. 6-12 and Jan.
14-16, and "The Love-Crazed Samurai" will be performed Jan. 13, 15
and 16, both at Benisan Pit in Koto Ward, Tokyo, a five-minute walk
from Morishita Station on the Toei Shinjuku and Oedo subway lines.
For more information, call (03) 5272-1785.

If I wasn't swamped with work and moving in two weeks,
I think I'd go--looks interesting!


--- Kitsuno <samurai-listowner@...>
wrote:

>
> Kabuki theater gets a modern facelift
>
> Colin Skelton / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
>
> Old-fashioned kabuki serves as a fountain of
> inspiration for an
> exciting contemporary Tokyo-based theater troupe,
> Ryuzanji Company.
>
> Founded in 1984 by director Show Ryuzanji, the group
> raises the
> curtain on the new year with the "Ryuzanji Kabuki
> New Year
> Performance Series" in celebration of their 20th
> anniversary. Two
> different performances based on kabuki plays will be
> held during a
> 10-day period ending Jan. 16 at the Benisan Pit in
> Koto Ward, Tokyo.
>
> There will be 11 performances of Sakurahime Omoteura
> Daikitan,
> adapted by Norihiko Tsukuda. The second play,
> Kamikakete Sango
> Taisetsu (The Love-Crazed Samurai), adapted by
> Kiyokazu Yamamoto,
> will be performed three times, with subtitles in
> English (Jan. 13),
> Chinese (Jan. 15) and Russian (Jan. 16). Both plays
> are based on
> stories originally written by Tsuruya Namboku.
>
> Japan, and in particular Tokyo, boasts a large
> number of smaller
> experimental theater groups and individuals who are
> part of a
> creative underground.
>
> Led by avant-garde artists, these small theater
> movements emerged in
> the 1960s, born out of a rebellion against
> overregimented postwar
> Japanese society. Ryuzanji Company shares the
> research-oriented and
> experimental approach that characterize independent
> underground
> theater movements.
>
> Director Ryuzanji is an energetic theater artist who
> has been active
> in Japan's small theater movements since 1970. He is
> an accomplished
> actor, producer and director, having directed over
> 200 plays during
> his career, including Educating Mad Persons, written
> by Shuji
> Terayama. He started Ryuzanji Company with the
> intention
> of "facilitating a horizontal affiliation among
> small theater
> activists."
>
> Consequently, Ryuzanji Company produces performances
> using talent
> from different genres: traditional and contemporary,
> dance and
> theater. They are also active internationally, and
> in 2000 were
> awarded the grand prix "Best Of Fringe" for their
> performances of
> Educating Mad Persons at the Victoria Fringe
> International Theater
> Festival in Canada.
>
> Sakurahime Omoteura Daikitan is the complicated
> story of a high-
> ranking priest who, after failing to commit suicide
> with his male
> lover, falls in love with a beautiful young
> princess. Chased by the
> princess' evil rogue lover, the two escape only to
> meet very
> different fates. The priest accidentally dies, and
> the princess
> becomes a prostitute for a short time. The central
> appeal of the
> play is the idea of a princess becoming a
> prostitute, which was met
> with fascination by audiences when the play was
> first performed in
> 1817.
>
> The main character in The Love-Crazed Samurai is
> taken from a famous
> kabuki play, Chushingura, which is based on one of
> Japan's most
> famous revenge vendetta episodes. The real-life
> incident took place
> in 1702, when 47 samurai avenged their master's
> death.
>
> The protagonist in The Love-Crazed Samurai is one of
> these 47
> samurai. He is a ronin, or a samurai without a
> master, who is kicked
> out of his clan when a large sum of money is stolen
> while he is on
> guard duty. He sets about retrieving the money in
> order to regain
> his status and lead an attack upon a rival clan that
> had killed his
> master.
>
> Ryuzanji Company describes The Love-Crazed Samurai
> as a play about
> wrongdoers, the fate of men and a woman blinded by
> money and about
> men who deceive and kill each other in the
> furtherance of uchiiri, a
> justified raid for a noble cause. This play is full
> of atrocities,
> laughing at didactic stories where good always wins
> in the end. The
> Namboku world created by playwright is dry and
> vacant. Kamikakete
> Sango Taisetsu is full of wickedness and eros, and
> is a very
> modernistic play.
>
> Ryuzanji and his company believe that kabuki is "the
> fountainhead of
> Japanese stage art." They are inspired by the
> parallel themes
> dealing with human interaction that exist in the
> ancient stories of
> kabuki plays and modern-day society. Written in the
> language of the
> time, kabuki plays often take many hours to perform,
> and therefore
> the adaptation process requires a reduction in
> length of the plays
> while maintaining the essence of the story itself.
>
> "By thoroughly modernizing the language of kabuki,
> we can
> reconstruct kabuki from the Edo period (1603-1868)
> into a
> contemporary play," says Ryuzanji. He adds that
> performing a kabuki
> play written 180 years ago in the present day poses
> an inviting
> challenge as to how people today breathe life into
> words written so
> long ago.
>
> In adapting the stories, Ryuzanji has sought to
> create a unique
> style of contemporary "Ryuzanji Kabuki." This he
> achieves first by
> simplifying and reducing the elaborate visual
> spectacles often found
> in kabuki plays. Second, the play is re-created
> through the combined
> effort of all the members of the ensemble. The
> result is a unique
> and entertaining style of performance in which the
> actors' physical
> expression carries the story of the play.
>
> "Originally in kabuki there were no directors. The
> actors themselves
> are largely responsible for creating their own
> part," explains
> Ryuzanji. "Our performances follow this example by a
> very open
> attitude to stage direction where the ideas of the
> actors,
> choreographers and musicians are all given
> consideration in the
> rehearsal process. The actors' movements and
> emotional expressions
> become more important than the story itself. Our
> performances are
> experimental but at the same time very
> entertaining."
>
> Traditional kabuki is performed only by male actors.
> Obvious
> adaptations that Ryuzanji has made in The
> Love-Crazed Samurai
> include his casting a female actress, Hiroko Ito, in
> the lead
> samurai role, and his conscious combination of
> elements from kabuki
> and the all-female Takarazuka Revue.
>
> "The main theme for both plays is war and universal
> judgment,"
> Ryuzanji says. "I feel that these themes can
> sometimes be more
>

=== message truncated ===




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