著者

大橋 裕美

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.12, no.2, pp.149-161, 2013

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<i>MUSUKO</i> (The Son) is one of Osanai Kaoru&rsquo;s most famous plays, and a typical example of Shin-Kabuki (New Kabuki) works. It was first published in magazine form in 1922. <i>MUSUKO</i> is a tale about a night watchman and a wanted young man named Kinjir&ocirc;. He, it turns out, is the watchman's son, who disappeared nine years ago. Kinjir&ocirc; meets his father again, but the watchman does not recognize his son because he has changed so much. Kinjir&ocirc; keeps his secret to himself, and says good-bye to the watchman. Thus, Osanai describes an unusual relationship between a son and his father. The play was first staged in March 1923 at Teikoku Gekijy&ocirc;. The actors Onoe Kikugor&ocirc; VI (1885-1949), Onoe Matsusuke IV (1843-1928), and Morita Kanya XIII (1885-1932) all performed in the play, drawing a large audience. In this paper, I focus on two important aspects of <i>MUSUKO</i> as a modern Japanese play. Firstly, it is an adaptation of <i>Augustus in Search of a Father</i> by Harold Chapin (1886-1915). Generally, dramatic adaptations in modern Japan include concepts from the original sources, as in the play <i>Hernani</i> by Matsui Sy&ocirc;y&ocirc; (1870-1933), and <i>Suisu-Giminden</i> (Wilhelm Tell) by Iwaya Sazanami (1870-1933). Both of these authors considered the original stories very carefully. In contrast, Osanai&rsquo;s theory of adaptation is unique. He cut a lot of the dialogue and scenes from Chapin&rsquo;s play, and changed the nature of the father&rsquo;s character: the father in <i>MUSUKO</i> is as stubborn as a mule. Secondly, <i>MUSUKO</i> is a new and interesting drama about a father and his son. Needless to say, plays depicting parents and children are often warm-hearted, and emotional. <i>Augustus in Search of a Father</i> is a sentimental play as well. Yet, in <i>MUSUKO</i>, Osanai depicts the father and his son without tearful affection. It is noteworthy that the dramaturgy of <i>MUSUKO</i> is of a very rare type in Japan. <i>MUSUKO</i> was a well-received play during the Taisy&ocirc; Era. The audience and critics spoke highly of its stage atmosphere. The set, designed by Tanaka Ryo (1884-1974), left an elegant impression on many people. During the Taisy&ocirc; Era, the &ldquo;kibun&rdquo;(atmosphere or mood) was an important idea for the audience. They praised <i>MUSUKO</i> for its refined sense. <i>MUSUKO</i> was received as an enchanting play at its first performance in 1923.

著者

村島 彩加

出版者

Japanese Society for Theatre Research. Comparative Theatre Section

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.11, no.2, pp.80-93, 2011

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Matsumoto Kôshirô VII (1870-1949) is now remembered for his authentic rendition of kabuki classics. However, in his youth, he was interested in Western culture and learned English, Western dance and the violin. Worthy of special mention is his experiments with Western make-up, which he learned from <i>Making Up</i> (Witmark & Sons 1905), a stage make-up manual by American actor James Young.<br>Kôshirô had photographs of his wearing Western make-up taken and published themin Japanese theater magazine <i>Engei Gahô</i> serially, under the title of "hensô". Literally meaning "to change one's looks," "hensô" can imply more than changing one's appearance by putting on make-up. I would argue that Matsumoto's engrossment in Western make-up prefigured the subsequent development of interest in facial expressions as an acting technique, which was advocated by theatre theorists and practitioners who had seen or studied Western theater in early twentieth century Japan. The irony with this is that, while those who emphasized the importance of "hyôjyô" - a rarely used word then meaning facial expressions - and sought guidance for Kôshirô's "hensô" series pursued a new style of acting to get rid of old kabuki, Kôshirô studied Western make-up for his acting in kabuki theater.<br>Kôshirô's photos have not been fully appreciated because his experiments with Western make-up were considered an amateurish hobby. However, considering the influences his study had on shingeki actors - he taught Western make-up methods at Tokyo Haiyu Yôseijo, a training facility for shingeki actors - it is necessary to cast a new light on Kôshirô, who is usually understood as a superb Meiji-era kabuki actor endowed with a beautiful body suitable for kabuki classics. Certainly, he was a pioneer in modernizing kabuki acting as well as a mediator between kabuki and modern Japanese theater.

著者

奥 香織

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, no.2, pp.29-40, 2015-03-31 (Released:2015-04-01)

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This paper aims to explain the features and uniqueness of Harlequin (Arlequin) in Lesage’s 1713 fair theater: Arlequin, roi de Serendib, performed at the fair St. Germain; Arlequin Thétis, performed at the fair St Laurent; and Arlequin invisible, performed at the fair St. Laurent. During the early eighteenth-century, performances at the fairs of Paris were very popular. The Commedia dell’arte’s characters, especially Harlequin, took center stage in these performances. When Lesage wrote these three plays, speaking parts were prohibited on stage at fairs. Under these circumstances Lesage presented silent drama in which the audience sings the words that should be said by actors. So, in three plays written in this form, the corporality is particularly emphasized, and it is Harlequin that has a particularly important role. Traditionally, the body language is one of the most important elements of this character; furthermore, in this period, Harlequin’s image, nature, and gestures are shared by the audience: common codes function during performance. By using effectively Harlequin’s well-known character and gestures, Lesage tries to create his own silent drama in a difficult and particular condition for playwrights. In Lesage’s three works, Harlequin moves around freely in a fantasy world influenced by Italian comedy performed in seventeenth-century Paris. Traditional features of this character (gluttony, greed, lust for women) are adroitly integrated into each story. In all cases, Lesage’s Harlequin concentrates on mimes each action, because he cannot say anything meaningful on stage: In this situation, the audience concentrates intensely on his mimic function. By combining the well-known commedia gestures (lazzi) and traditional plot features of Harlequin, Lesage creates his own world, which pivots on corporality. In the official theater of eighteenth-century France, Harlequin becomes more “human,” but Lesage’s works demonstrate that this character appears differently at the fair because of his use of body language. Lesage’s attempt in his early career has not been considered outstanding work when compared to form his opéra-comiques later in the century. Yet his early works are important from the perspective of the development of body language and pantomime—important features of later eighteenth-century drama. His experiment in this particular theatrical form is only temporary, yet his efforts influence later popular theater, and especially nineteenth-century theater in France. Lesage’ss Harlequin only appears at “non-official” places, but he still plays an important role in the history of French theater.

著者

藤原 麻優子

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, no.1, pp.33-47, 2016

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On Broadway and West End, the new millennium regarded as an era of juke-box and movie musicals. However, there is another trend, including Urinetown (2001), The Producers (2001), Avenue Q (2003), Spamalot (2005), The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), The Book of Mormon (2011), and Something Rotten! (2015). These shows share several aspects that differ from juke-box musicals and movie musicals. This essay aims to reevaluate these musicals as metamusicals: an alternative genre of musical theater that emerged around the 2000s. Regarding this kind of musicals, Kathryn Edney argued that City of Angels (1989) was one of the first "hyper-aware" musicals. In Showtime, Larry Stempel referred to shows such as Urinetown, Avenue Q, and The Drowsy Chaperone as "self-reflexive." Osanai Shin categorized The Producers, Spamalot, and The Drowsy Chaperone as "meta musicals"—along with revivals of backstage musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate (1999) and 42nd Street (2001). Reviews by notable theater critics, such as Ben Brantley, also share this viewpoint regarding these musicals. However, while they mention the possibility of the emergence of a new genre of musical theater, their analyses are sporadic and disagree on some points, such as which shows might be included in this new trend. As the analysis of this essay reveals, these shows are basically musical comedies filled with self-references but not necessarily backstage musicals. Rather, these musicals are saturated with inside jokes, parodies, and self-referential spoofs even though they are not necessarily backstage musicals. In this regard, there is a sharp distinction between the shows produced before and after the turn of the century. As in The Drowsy Chaperone, The Book of Mormon, and Something Rotten!, self-referential jokes are not merely a device of musical comedy to entertain its audience. Instead, they consists the main body of the show. In these metamusicals, characters are aware that they are in musicals. In fact, they are hyperaware of their existence in a musical. They comment on how musicals should be and how they feel about certain songs, and they often complain about the show they are in. At the same time, the plot of the show comments on itself as being a musical. All in all, metamusicals examine the relevance of the conventions of musical in this postmodern world.

著者

田中 里奈

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.16, no.1, pp.17-38, 2016 (Released:2017-04-03)

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Although musicals from Broadway and the West End are generally regarded as the mainstream ever since the genre was established, since 1992 musicals from Vienna have been gradually recognized on a global scale. This research note outlines the acceptance of musicals in Vienna from the first performance in 1956 to the preparation for the original productions aiming at the global market in the 1990s, focusing on two main musical theaters, the Volksoper Wien and the Theater an der Wien. The Volksoper took the initiative to introduce musicals to the Viennese audience. Led by Ernst Marboe and Marcel Prawy, American musicals were first incorporated in the annual repertoire of the Volksoper, one of the state theaters, with Kiss me Kate (1956). In fact, considering the Volksoper as a responsible for music dramas in Vienna, musicals remained as a sub category of its repertoire. On the other hand, musicals were regarded as one of the main categories at the Theater an der Wien since their first appearance under the direction of Fritz Klingenbeck (1962-1965). While staging imported musicals, the Theater an der Wien created four original productions under the direction of Rolf Kutschera (1965-1982). Polterabend (1967), Helden, Helden (1972), Das Glas Wasser (1977), and Die Gräfin vom Natschmarkt (1978), were performed not only in Vienna but also in the other German-speaking countries. As not only the productions but also the management structure as well as the actors and actresses were expected to be homemade, Peter Weck (directed 1982-1992) established a management foundation »Vereinigte Bühnen Wien« in 1970 and a musical academy »Tanz-Studio Theater an der Wien« in 1984. His attempt was to produce high quality musical performances that not only meet the global standards but also clearly Austrian, in response to the criticism that the conventional performances were imperfect in quality or too Anglo-Saxon-styled for Vienna. The acceptance of musicals in Vienna was influenced by a multitude of cultural and social factors in the post-war era. For example, musicals were both accepted and rejected because of political factors such as the Viennese cultural policies and the relationship with the United States. Economic factors such as tourism and theater management were also influential. In addition, differences between high culture and popular culture influenced the reception to musicals. By these factors, the center of musical theater shifted from the Volksoper to the Theater an der Wien, and finally it got ready to produce the original musical series in the 1990s.

著者

江口 正登

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.13, no.2, pp.84-93, 2014-03-31 (Released:2014-04-03)

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This paper investigates Snow, a theatre piece written and directed by John Jesurun, which premiered in 2000. The piece has three unique features. The first is its theatrical space. It lacks a conventional auditorium but features a walled central area. The audience first enters the area and then watches the performance from there. This is linked to the second feature: the hiding, if not excluding, of the live performance. The central area is equipped with four screens above each wall, on which the audience watches the performance. Thus, although the actual performances are conducted just outside the walled area, it is not directly presented to the audience. The last feature is the “Virtual Actor.” This is, in fact, a camera, but due to its preset program, it can move as if of its own free will. This camera is not shown on the screens; however, the audience can sense its presence through a set of shots taken from the camera’s viewpoint. This paper derives two main arguments from Snow by focusing on this Virtual Actor. The first is the displacement of the relation between human and machine. The quasi-autonomously operating camera, prompting a revision of the concept of the subject, questions the way in which we have separated the human, as a self-evidently autonomous being, from the machine, which is conceived as a non-autonomous being. Turning from a technical device such as the Virtual Actor to the story of Snow, which depicts the background of the contemporary media industry, we can find a similar question concerning the human-machine boundary. In one episode, people try to utilize “the tone and inflection of [one’s] voice” as material for encryption. In treating allegedly natural elements, such as “tone and inflection,” as a medium for the highly cultural operation of encryption, this episode suggests a cybernetic vision similar to the one discussed by Donna Haraway. In her view, through the reconception of organisms as coded texts, biology transforms into cryptology. We can thereby consider the living organism to be a communication device that has no fundamental difference from a machine. The piece’s second argument lies in its metafictional inquiry. Narratology is based on the assumption that story space and discourse space are two distinct domains that must not be confused. This assumption, however, is challenged by the Virtual Actor. On the one hand, the Virtual Actor resides in discourse space, as it is a recording device designed for narration. At the same time, it is a character that naturally belongs to story space. The Virtual Actor’s double identity destabilizes the division between these two spaces.

著者

江口 正登

出版者

日本演劇学会分科会西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

no.10, pp.119-135, 2011

著者

田ノ口 誠悟

出版者

西洋比較演劇研究会

雑誌

西洋比較演劇研究 (ISSN:13472720)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.12, no.2, pp.162-173, 2013

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The first aim of this paper is to discuss "the People's Theatre" of Jean Giraudoux, a French playwright who wrote in the 1930s, by reading his essays on the theater. I will then show that, when compared with the other theories of "the People's Theatre" that were presented under the French Third Republic, Giraudoux's theory was very particuliar. Giraudoux made his debut in the theater in 1928 when his novel Siegfried was adapted for the stage. This play became a great success and Giraudoux consequently made his name as a playwright. After the success of Siegfried, Giraudoux wrote a number of popular plays. Parallel to his playwriting, Giraudoux also wrote several essays about the theater. There are nine essays in all. These essays are on many topics, such as the situation of the theatre in other countries, the dramaturgies of the classic playwrights, and the relationship between film and the theater. The essays are wide-ranging and we should note that in all these essays, there is a question about the relationship between the French Third Republic and the theater. In France, the idea that the theater should be adapted for a democratic society appeared in the form of the "People's Theater" (le théâtre du peuple). It was the philosophers of the eighteenth century, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who first proposed this vision of a new form of theater. In their theories, they insist that the theater after the revolution must refuse the aesthetic of the aristocracy and should be adapted instead for the aesthetic of the people. Meanwhile, the conception of a theater for, and by, the people was further developed by Jules Michelet in the middle of the nineteenth century. However, it was only after the birth of the French Third Republic that a real democracy was born in France, and the intellectual discussion about the idea of a theater for democracy was at its worst. We can consider that Giraudoux's essays about the theater connect with the rise of discussions about "the People's Theater" in the age of the French Third Republic. However, "the People's Theater" of Giraudoux is something very unique when compared to the ideas of the others theorists of this generation because his is a theory of a theater that can destroy the Republic, rather than a theory of a theater that services the Republic.