NOVEMBER 2008 (original) (raw)

6 shows in T�ky� (Kabukiza, National Theatre, Shinbashi Enbuj�, Heisei Nakamuraza), 1 in Yamaga (Yachiyoza), 1 in Shimonoseki (Shimonoseki Shimin Kaikan) and 1 tour (Sh�chiku Grand Kabuki Tour)!

• Kataoka Nizaemon, Sakata T�j�r�, Onoe Kikugor�, Nakamura Tomij�r�, Nakamura Shikan, Nakamura Tokiz�, Nakamura Kaishun and Nakamura Baigyoku perform at the Kabukiza!
• The K�raiya guild (the star Matsumoto K�shir� and his son Ichikawa Somegor�) perform at the National Theatre!
• Nakamura Kanzabur�, Nakamura Hashinosuke and Nakamura Senjaku perform at the Heisei Nakamuraza!
• Band� Tamasabur� performs at the Yachiyoza!
• Band� Mitsugor� and Nakamura Shibajaku are on tour (Sh�chiku Grand Kabuki Tour)!
• The Zenshinza performs at the Asakusa K�kaid�!
• Ichikawa Ebiz�, Onoe Kikunosuke, Kataoka Ainosuke, Onoe Sh�roku and Nakamura Shid� perform at the Shinbashi Enbuj�!

Kabukiza (T�ky�)
Dates	1 ~ 25 November 2008 (Kichirei Kaomise K�gy� Kabuki)
Matin�e	Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu Kuruwa Bunsh� (Yoshidaya)
Evening	Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami (Terakoya) Funa Benkei Komochi Yamanba (Yaegiri Kuruwa Banashi)
Casting	Kataoka Nizaemon, Sakata T�j�r�, Onoe Kikugor�, Nakamura Tomij�r�, Nakamura Shikan, Nakamura Tokiz�, Nakamura Kaishun, Nakamura Baigyoku, Ichikawa Danshir�, Ichikawa Danz�, Ichikawa Sadanji, Kataoka Gat�, Kataoka Hidetar�, Nakamura Kinnosuke, Kataoka Takatar�, Sawamura Tanosuke, Nakamura T�z�, Nakamura Karoku, Nakamura Kash�, Kawarasaki Gonj�r�, �tani Tomoemon, Nakamura Baishi, Kataoka Sennosuke
Comments	Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu: this play is a blend of "Ch�shingura" with its tangled stories of loyalties and masterless samurai that ultimately avenge their master's death and the story of "Godairiki", about the love between a geisha named Koman and the samurai Satsuma Gengob� which is spoiled by the jealousy of a man named Sangor�. Sasano Sangor� (Onoe Kikugor�) is married to Koman (Nakamura Tokiz�), but she becomes a geisha to help him to raise the money to help his lord, a man that he has never seen. In the pleasure quarters the samurai Satsuma Gengob� (Kataoka Nizaemon) falls in love with her and spends huge sums of money on her, despite the fact that he needs money for the sake of the "Ch�shingura" vendetta. Finally Gengob� gets money and Sangor� and Koman decide to defraud him of the money, which results in a massacre in the pleasure quarters. Ironically, Gengob� is none other than the unknown master for whom Sangor� was trying to raise money. This story of passion and greed takes place against the background of inexplicable fate and the strict requirements of samurai society and adds ample doses of sardonic humor, the perfect play for our times. Yoshidaya: the roots of this play go back to the earliest days of Kabuki. Izaemon, the son of a wealthy family, has been disowned for loving a courtesan and now has nothing but a paper kimono. This role is a classic example of the wagoto or soft style of acting that is one of the representative acting styles of the Kansai region. Sakata T�j�r� stars as Izaemon, a role that is a specialty of his family's Kansai acting style. Featuring Nakamura Kaishun as his lover, the courtesan Y�giri, Kataoka Gat� and Kataoka Hidetar� as the proprietor and proprietress of the Yoshidaya teahouse. Terakoya: Genz� and his wife Tonami run a small school and are protecting Kan Sh�j�'s son and heir, saying that he is their son. However, word has gotten out Kan Sh�j�'s son is there and Genz� has been ordered to behead him. Moreover, Matsu�maru is to come to inspect the head. Their only alternative is to kill one of the other students as a substitute, but all of the students are farmer's children who could never pass for the son of a court aristocrat. However, a new boy arrives that day and Genz� makes the terrible decision to kill him in the place of his lord. As it turns out, Matsu�maru has sent his own son to be sacrificed, because of his family's long loyalty to Kan Sh�j�. But he must face the most terrible situation for a father, inspecting the head of his own son and lying when he says that it is the genuine head of the son of Kan Sh�j�. Finally Matsu�maru reveals his true feelings to Genz� and he and his wife Chiyo mourn their dead son. Starring Kataoka Nizaemon as Matsu�maru, Nakamura Baigyoku as Genz�, Sakata T�j�r� as Chiyo and Nakamura Kaishun as Tonami. Funa Benkei: in this powerful dance-drama, which is based on the well-known N� play of the same title, Onoe Kikugor� performs two strikingly different characters, Yoshitsune's mistress Shizuka and the ghost of Taira no Tomomori. The first part of the drama shows Benkei (Ichikawa Sadanji) persuading Yoshitsune (Nakamura Tomij�r�) to part with Shizuka. Then, when Yoshitsune and his retinue embark, the ghost of Tomomori, believed to have perished in the battle of Dan-no-Ura between the Minamoto and Taira forces in 1185, emerges from the raging waves and begins to attack Yoshitsune. Overpowered by Benkei's fervent prayer, Tomomori's ghost finally retreats in agony. Yaegiri Kuruwa Banashi: Yamanba, or the mountain hag, has been celebrated for centuries in traditional Japanese dance and theater. In the Kabuki version, Yamanba becomes a beautiful woman, a courtesan who becomes the wife of the samurai Tokiyuki and retreats to the mountains to miraculously give birth to the powerful warrior Sakata Kintoki. This play was originally by the great Chikamatsu Monzaemon and is a classic of Kansai style Kabuki. Nakamura Tokiz� appears as the courtesan who tells the humorous story of a fight between courtesans over a handsome man and then mysteriously becomes pregnant by the spirit of her husband. Starring Nakamura Baigyoku and Nakamura Kinnosuke in the roles of Yaegiri's husband Sakata Tokiyuki and the villain �ta J�r�. This drama celebrates the 49th anniversary (50th memorial service) of the passing away of Nakamura Tokiz� III, the grandfather of Nakamura Tokiz�. Sources: Earphone Guide website Sasaguchi Rei for "Funa Benkei"

National Theatre (T�ky�)

Dates	3 ~ 26 November 2008
Program	Edo no Yami Ayashi no Kagizume [](Akechi Kogor� to Ningenhy�)
Casting	Matsumoto K�shir�, Ichikawa Somegor�, Ichikawa Komaz�, Ichikawa Shun'en, Matsumoto Kingo, Sawamura Tetsunosuke
Comments	For the very first time in Kabuki history, a novel of Edogawa Rampo is adapted for Kabuki. This play, which is staged at the National Theatre, is based on "Ningenhy�" ('The Were-Panther' in English), a novel with the detective Akechi Kogor�, which was published in 1934. Ichikawa Somegor� performs a spectacular ch�nori, his body attached to a giant kite! Edo no Yami Ayashi no Kagizume: there are few writers who have been more popular than Edogawa Rampo (1894~1965). His pen name is based on Edgar Allan Poe and he introduced detective stories to Japan with his super detective Akechi Kogor�. The writer also was a master of the grotesque and erotic and created characters with strange passions, masquerading as chairs to get close to the beloved, trying to preserve the bodies of beautiful men and women by turning them into perfect looking mannequins. The November 2008 production at the National Theatre is a very unusual event, a new Kabuki play that dramatizes one of Edogawa Rampo�s most haunting and popular novels, "Ningen Hy�" ("The Were-Panther") about a man who has the lustful and bloodthirsty tastes of an animal and even resembles a leopard, with glittering eyes, huge mouth and sharp teeth. He stalks the women that are nearest and dearest to Kamiya Yoshinosuke and comes to battle the master detective Akechi Kogor�. Starring Matsumoto K�shir� as Akechi Kogor� and Ichikawa Somegor� as the villain.

Shinbashi Enbuj� (T�ky�)

Yachiyoza (Yamaga)
Dates	6 ~ 16 November 2008
Program	K�j� Shunky� Kagami Jishi
Casting	Band� Tamasabur�
Comments	A special Buy� program starring the amazing onnagata Band� Tamasabur� in Yamaga at the Yachiyoza, a traditional wooden-built theater. Kagami Jishi: one of the most important dances for onnagata female role specialists and is an audience favorite. The maidservant Yayoi performs an auspicious lion dance for the Sh�gun in his opulent palace, but she gradually finds herself under the control of the lion spirit. In the second half of the dance, the lion spirit itself appears and performs its crazed dance among peonies and fluttering butterflies. Starring Band� Tamasabur� as both Yayoi and the spirit of the lion. Source: Earphone Guide website