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.17, no.1, pp.19-34, 2018 (Released:2018-04-01)

---

Since the debut of Musical The Prince of Tennis in 2003, stage musicals adapted from two-dimensional media such as manga and anime have gained remarkable popularity in Japan. These “2.5 dimensional musicals” are unique in many ways: they require a comparatively low budget, inexperienced actors, a remarkably simple stage set and demonstrate loyalty to the original material. In these ways, they are distinct from the more conventional and imported musical productions performed at major Japanese commercial theaters. Among the unique characteristics of 2.5 dimensional musicals, one of the most distinct is its principle of the adaptation. To adapt the original material from page to stage, musicals can either remain faithful to or deviate from the original material. In conventional musicals, faithfulness to the original material is not their main purpose. Writers cut, change and adapt the original material to serve their purpose and create “original” shows. Conversely, in 2.5 dimensional musicals, faithfulness to the original material is of great importance. The name of the genre itself suggests the importance and uniqueness of the ideals of the adaptation; 2.5 dimensional musicals strive to remain faithful to the original manga/anime image and create an effect that allows the audience to perceive what they see as two-dimensional even though the performance itself is undeniably happening in three-dimensional theater space. The latter characteristic prompted the emergence of the name “2.5 dimensional” musicals. Although its two-dimensionality has attracted notice, the fact that the performances have also been set to music and dance has been overlooked - in some cases, both musical and non-musical shows have been classified as “2.5 dimensional musicals.” To analyze the characteristics of the 2.5 dimensional musical, this study will compare Musical The Prince of Tennis with mainstream musicals such as Beauty and the Beast (1994) More than ten productions have been made of Musical The Prince of Tennis series; this paper focuses on the opening numbers of those productions. In conventional musicals, opening numbers are expected to function as an important part of the show. Opening numbers set the context, introduce characters, direct the story, present the theme, and essentially, open the show. This study aims to reveal the characteristics of Musical The Prince of Tennis and investigate how musical numbers work in those shows through comparison of the elements that characterize opening numbers.

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 (Released:2016-04-01)

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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

北野 雅弘 山口 遥子 わたなべ まり 松鵜 功記 綾田 將一 沖渡 崇史 川渕 優子 山下 純照 塩田 典子 稲山 玲 松尾 ひかり 大崎 さやの 鈴木 国男 根岸 理子

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.22, no.1, pp.46-80, 2023 (Released:2023-03-31)

著者

鈴木 美穂

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.108-119, 2014-03-31 (Released:2014-04-03)

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This paper discusses Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls by focusing on the portrayal of Angie, who is regarded by critics as a comparatively minor character. As symbolically exhibited in the confrontational relationship between Marlene and Joyce, a binary opposition functions as the dominant structure of the play. Marlene, one of the leading characters, is bent on boosting her already successful career and espouses Margaret Thatcher’s monetarist policies. Appearing in almost every scene, she seems to be at the heart of the play, and her presence reinforces various dichotomies, such as winner/loser and centre/margin. Her sister Joyce, a working-class single mother, does not accept Marlene’s point of view. However, Angie, who has been raised by Joyce but is actually Marlene’s sixteen-year-old daughter, has the potential to decentralise Marlene’s position and subvert the rigid binary opposition. First, Angie demonstrates the possibility of fluidising binary relationships at various levels. In Act II scene 2, she and her friend Kit are crammed into a small shelter. Their interdependent relationship is shown through the representation of their bodies, as when Kit shows her menstrual blood to Angie on her finger, and Angie licks it. These representations also symbolize the variable relationship between the inner and outer parts of the body. In that scene, Angie is geographically and socially in the most marginalised position in relation to the centre, London, where Marlene lives. However, Angie decides to visit London because she believes that Marlene is her birth mother. In this manner, Angie is able to break up the rigid relationship between the two. Second, the unrealistic dinner party in the first scene can be thought of as Angie’s dream, which also overthrows Marlene’s centrality within the play. Although the party is held to celebrate Marlene’s promotion, her position is gradually decentralised as guests talk about their painful experiences in childbirth and separation. The separation between mother and child suggests a strong connection to Angie’s search for her biological mother. During the dinner party, verbal language gradually recedes as the characters’ bodies come to the fore. These processes are symbolically represented by the portrayal of the female pope, Joan, whose vomiting in the final scene evokes the story of her horrible childbirth. These images also imply the plasticity of the relationship between the inner and outer parts of the body, as suggested by Angie’s bodily representation in the shelter scene. Thus, Angie implodes the various boundaries and decentralises Marlene’s position in Top Girls.

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, 2013-03-15 (Released:2013-03-15)

参考文献数

28

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MUSUKO (The Son) is one of Osanai Kaoru’s most famous plays, and a typical example of Shin-Kabuki (New Kabuki) works. It was first published in magazine form in 1922. MUSUKO is a tale about a night watchman and a wanted young man named Kinjirô. He, it turns out, is the watchman’s son, who disappeared nine years ago. Kinjirô meets his father again, but the watchman does not recognize his son because he has changed so much. Kinjirô 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 Gekijyô. The actors Onoe Kikugorô 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 MUSUKO as a modern Japanese play. Firstly, it is an adaptation of Augustus in Search of a Father by Harold Chapin (1886-1915). Generally, dramatic adaptations in modern Japan include concepts from the original sources, as in the play Hernani by Matsui Syôyô (1870-1933), and Suisu-Giminden (Wilhelm Tell) by Iwaya Sazanami (1870-1933). Both of these authors considered the original stories very carefully. In contrast, Osanai’s theory of adaptation is unique. He cut a lot of the dialogue and scenes from Chapin’s play, and changed the nature of the father’s character: the father in MUSUKO is as stubborn as a mule. Secondly, MUSUKO 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. Augustus in Search of a Father is a sentimental play as well. Yet, in MUSUKO, Osanai depicts the father and his son without tearful affection. It is noteworthy that the dramaturgy of MUSUKO is of a very rare type in Japan. MUSUKO was a well-received play during the Taisyô 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 Taisyô Era, the “kibun”(atmosphere or mood) was an important idea for the audience. They praised MUSUKO for its refined sense. MUSUKO was received as an enchanting play at its first performance in 1923.

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.17, no.1, pp.19-34, 2018

---

Since the debut of <i>Musical The Prince of Tennis</i> in 2003, stage musicals adapted from two-dimensional media such as manga and anime have gained remarkable popularity in Japan. These "2.5 dimensional musicals" are unique in many ways: they require a comparatively low budget, inexperienced actors, a remarkably simple stage set and demonstrate loyalty to the original material. In these ways, they are distinct from the more conventional and imported musical productions performed at major Japanese commercial theaters.Among the unique characteristics of 2.5 dimensional musicals, one of the most distinct is its principle of the adaptation. To adapt the original material from page to stage, musicals can either remain faithful to or deviate from the original material. In conventional musicals, faithfulness to the original material is not their main purpose. Writers cut, change and adapt the original material to serve their purpose and create "original" shows. Conversely, in 2.5 dimensional musicals, faithfulness to the original material is of great importance. The name of the genre itself suggests the importance and uniqueness of the ideals of the adaptation; 2.5 dimensional musicals strive to remain faithful to the original manga/anime image and create an effect that allows the audience to perceive what they see as two-dimensional even though the performance itself is undeniably happening in three-dimensional theater space. The latter characteristic prompted the emergence of the name "2.5 dimensional" musicals.Although its two-dimensionality has attracted notice, the fact that the performances have also been set to music and dance has been overlooked - in some cases, both musical and non-musical shows have been classified as "2.5 dimensional musicals." To analyze the characteristics of the 2.5 dimensional musical, this study will compare <i>Musical The Prince of Tennis</i> with mainstream musicals such as <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> (1994) More than ten productions have been made of <i>Musical The Prince of Tennis</i> series; this paper focuses on the opening numbers of those productions. In conventional musicals, opening numbers are expected to function as an important part of the show. Opening numbers set the context, introduce characters, direct the story, present the theme, and essentially, open the show. This study aims to reveal the characteristics of <i>Musical The Prince of Tennis</i> and investigate how musical numbers work in those shows through comparison of the elements that characterize opening numbers.

著者

菊地 浩平

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.199-210, 2013-03-15 (Released:2013-03-15)

参考文献数

27

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Samuel Foote (1720-1777) was a comedy playwright and actor whose plays were considered to be representative of eighteenth-century English theatre. However, these days, Foote is largely neglected by academia. My study of the Primitive Puppet-Shew reveals that the second marionette show Foote performed in his later years showed him performing with an unconventional casting that involved him and life-size wooden marionettes. Foote, who had a wooden prosthetic leg which he greatly depended upon, created a highly impressive production that raised questions regarding the boundaries between the human body and the marionette. A study of Foote’s first marionette show, Tragedy a-la-Mode, which he staged before the horse-riding accident in 1766 that cost him his leg, clarifies that Foote was aware of the significance of these questions even at that time. What exactly was the origin of Foote’s awareness of the significance of the body in experimental tragedy enacted using life-size pasteboard marionettes and a human actor? I attempt to answer this question through an exploration of Foote’s theatrical activities during his early to middle period, which can be regarded as the preparatory stage for his later marionette plays. Two of Foote’s theatrical essays are first analysed from his early period, “A Treatise on the Passions” and “The Roman and English Comedy Consider’d and Compar’d,” to clarify his attitude towards acting. In particular, I survey how Foote viewed Garrick’s “natural” style of acting, which the former examined in the two theatrical essays, and demonstrate that Foote intended to develop an acting technique that could compete with Garrick’s. I also elucidate Foote’s reaction to Garrick’s acting in his theatrical essays and how Foote’s concept of the body played an important role in his future theatrical activities as an actor and comedy playwright. Through an analysis of the character of Mrs. Cole in Foote’s masterpiece, The Minor, I clarify how he developed his concept of the actor’s body and subsequently applied it in his marionette plays.

著者

井上 優

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.19, no.1, pp.23-37, 2020

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This paper aims to reassess the context of the Bungaku-za production of <i>Hamlet</i> directed by Tsuneari Fukuda (1955). This production is known for its huge box-office success and seen as one that shows the new possibilities to present Shakespeare plays on the post-war Japanese stages. Fukuda, influenced by the same play directed by Michael Benthall which he saw during his stay in London in 1953-4, introduced new acting style, i.e., speaking lines with high speed and no pause, without psychological depict.It is well-known that this production was realized with the Toyo-o Iwata, one of the members of the Directorial Board of the Bungaku-za. Iwata himself had stayed in Paris twice before the WW II and was known as a theorist and translator of French Theatre and plays. Of course, he was completely unfamiliar to Shakespeare and Shakespearean production. The Bungaku-za had never produced any Shakespeare plays under Iwata's directorship. The question arise naturally why Iwata supported Fukuda's <i>Hamlet</i>. There are two possible answers to it;1) Iwata's reevaluation of Shakespeare during his stay in London in 1953.2) His reluctance to agree with naturalist tendencies of modern dramas.In Iwata's view, Shakespeare's plays could be a breakthrough to the dead-end situation of modern dramas in general. Fukuda's <i>Hamlet</i> might be said to be a product of chance, i.e. that of accidental coincidence of Fukuda's ideal and Iwata's view of the modern theatre.

著者

井上 優

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.19, no.1, pp.23-37, 2020 (Released:2020-04-01)

---

This paper aims to reassess the context of the Bungaku-za production of Hamlet directed by Tsuneari Fukuda (1955). This production is known for its huge box-office success and seen as one that shows the new possibilities to present Shakespeare plays on the post-war Japanese stages. Fukuda, influenced by the same play directed by Michael Benthall which he saw during his stay in London in 1953-4, introduced new acting style, i.e., speaking lines with high speed and no pause, without psychological depict. It is well-known that this production was realized with the Toyo-o Iwata, one of the members of the Directorial Board of the Bungaku-za. Iwata himself had stayed in Paris twice before the WW II and was known as a theorist and translator of French Theatre and plays. Of course, he was completely unfamiliar to Shakespeare and Shakespearean production. The Bungaku-za had never produced any Shakespeare plays under Iwata’s directorship. The question arise naturally why Iwata supported Fukuda’s Hamlet. There are two possible answers to it; 1) Iwata’s reevaluation of Shakespeare during his stay in London in 1953. 2) His reluctance to agree with naturalist tendencies of modern dramas. In Iwata’s view, Shakespeare’s plays could be a breakthrough to the dead-end situation of modern dramas in general. Fukuda’s Hamlet might be said to be a product of chance, i.e. that of accidental coincidence of Fukuda’s ideal and Iwata’s view of the modern theatre.

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.297-310, 2013-03-15 (Released:2013-03-15)

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, 2013-03-15 (Released:2013-03-15)

参考文献数

15

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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.

著者

稲山 玲

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.21, no.1, pp.16-34, 2022-03-31 (Released:2022-03-31)

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This paper analyses Hisashi Inoue’s view on the Japanese Emperor in Yume no Kasabuta (The Scab of the Dream, 2006). One of the themes of this play is the Japanese Imperial system. Before the end of WW2, the Emperor was considered sacred, and it was forbidden to depict him in the arts. After 1945, playwrights started to write about the Imperial system, but the Emperor rarely appeared in their works. In Inoue’s Yume no Kasabuta, the real Emperor does not appear. Instead, one character acts the role of Emperor Showa in a play within the play. This paper focuses on how Inoue depicts ‘the Emperor’ to clarify Inoue’s view on the Japanese Emperor. The outline of Yume no Kasabuta is as follows. The play is set at a mansion in the Tohoku region. One day, the residents of the mansion are informed that the Emperor will stay at the mansion during his nation-wide tour, known as ‘gyōkō’, after WW2. To welcome the Emperor, the residents and neighbours of the mansion decide to practice how to communicate with him. At this rehearsal, Tokuji Miyake, a former military officer, plays the role of ‘the Emperor’ and Kinuko Sato, a female teacher, criticizes ‘the Emperor’ for not taking responsibility for Japan’s defeat in WW2. In this paper, I analyse Inoue’s view on the Japanese Emperor based on the following two features of ‘the Emperor’. The first is that ‘the Emperor’ is a device used to depict the Emperor indirectly. This indirectness shows Inoue’s restraint in criticizing the Emperor. The second is that ‘the Emperor’ performs acts that the real Emperor did not actually perform. For example, ‘the Emperor’ accepts responsibility for the war and apologizes to the Japanese people. Interestingly, these acts by ‘the Emperor’ are what Inoue hoped the real Emperor would do right after the war. Additionally, Tokuji, who plays ‘the Emperor’, marries Kinuko. Inoue said that Kinuko began to love Tokuji after he played the role of ‘the Emperor’. That means Kinuko did not fall in love with Tokuji himself but with ‘the Emperor’ that he portrayed. This paper interprets the marriage as a symbol of the love between ‘the Emperor’ and the Japanese people. From the above analysis, I conclude that this play shows Inoue’s complicated views on the Japanese Emperor. On the one hand, he criticized the Emperor in this play for his lack of responsibility for the defeat. On the other hand, he could not depict the real Emperor directly and made ‘the Emperor’ get married to a Japanese woman. This marriage shows the love which might have existed between the Emperor and the Japanese people if the Emperor had apologized to the people.

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

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, no.2, pp.29-40, 2014

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This paper aims to explain the features and uniqueness of Harlequin (Arlequin) in Lesage&rsquo;s 1713 fair theater: <i>Arlequin, roi de Serendib</i>, performed at the fair St. Germain; <i>Arlequin Th&eacute;tis</i>, performed at the fair St Laurent; and <i>Arlequin invisible</i>, performed at the fair St. Laurent.During the early eighteenth-century, performances at the fairs of Paris were very popular. The Commedia dell&rsquo;arte&rsquo;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&rsquo;s image, nature, and gestures are shared by the audience: common codes function during performance. By using effectively Harlequin&rsquo;s well-known character and gestures, Lesage tries to create his own silent drama in a difficult and particular condition for playwrights.In Lesage&rsquo;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&rsquo;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 &ldquo;human,&rdquo; but Lesage&rsquo;s works demonstrate that this character appears differently at the fair because of his use of body language. Lesage&rsquo;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&mdash;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&rsquo;ss Harlequin only appears at &ldquo;non-official&rdquo; places, but he still plays an important role in the history of French theater.

著者

稲山 玲

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.18, no.1, pp.53-69, 2019

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

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

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

巻号頁・発行日

vol.13, no.2, pp.84-93, 2013

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This paper investigates <i>Snow</i>, 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 &ldquo;Virtual Actor.&rdquo; 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&rsquo;s viewpoint.<br> This paper derives two main arguments from <i>Snow</i> 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 <i>Snow</i>, 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 &ldquo;the tone and inflection of [one&rsquo;s] voice&rdquo; as material for encryption. In treating allegedly natural elements, such as &ldquo;tone and inflection,&rdquo; 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.<br> The piece&rsquo;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&rsquo;s double identity destabilizes the division between these two spaces.

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)

---

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.