5 shows in Tôkyô (Kabukiza, National Theatre, Nissay Theatre) and 2 shows in Kyôto (Minamiza)!

Bandô Tamasaburô, Kataoka Nizaemon, Nakamura Kichiemon, Onoe Kikugorô, Matsumoto Kôshirô, Nakamura Tomijûrô, Nakamura Tokizô, Nakamura Baigyoku, Nakamura Kaishun and Nakamura Shibajaku perform at the Kabukiza!

Nakamura Hashinosuke and Nakamura Senjaku perform at the National Theatre!

Young and talented actors perform at the Nissay Theatre!

Young and talented actors perform at the Minamiza!

Bandô Tamasaburô, Kataoka Nizaemon, Nakamura Kichiemon, Onoe Kikugorô, Matsumoto Kôshirô, Nakamura Tomijûrô, Nakamura Tokizô, Nakamura Baigyoku, Nakamura Kaishun, Nakamura Shibajaku, Kataoka Gatô, Kataoka Hidetarô, Ichikawa Sadanji, Onoe Kikunosuke, Kataoka Takatarô, Onoe Shôroku, Nakamura Tôzô, Bandô Yajûrô, Nakamura Karoku, Nakamura Takanosuke

15th of the 16 Kabukiza Sayonara Kôen, the Kabukiza Farewell Performances, which will be held up to April 2010. This month program features three sections of "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" ("Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy"). This is a very long play about Sugawara no Michizane (known in this play as Kan Shôjô), a high-ranking imperial court minister who was a brilliant calligrapher and scholar. Political rivalries forced him to be exiled to distant Kyûshû, where he died. But after Michizane’s death, he became revered as the god of learning.

Kamo Zutsumi:
(The Kamo Riverbank)
1st section of "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". Young Sakuramaru (Nakamura Baigyoku) serves imperial prince Tokiyo who has fallen in love with Princess Kariya, Michizane’s beautiful daughter. Sakuramaru and his wife Yae (Nakamura Tokizô) are charmed by the affair, since it reminds them of their own love. But the affair is discovered and Michizane’s rivals use it as proof that he is attempting to take over the imperial court. This innocent love affair triggers the tragedies of the play.

Sanmon: though short, this play is one of the most visually spectacular in Kabuki. The famous villain Ishikawa Goemon (Nakamura Kichiemon) enjoys a sea of cherry blossoms while sitting on top the large gate of Nanzenji Temple. His enjoyment of the scene is cut short, though, by the appearance below of his arch-nemesis, the general Mashiba Hisayoshi (Onoe Kikugorô).

Onna Shibaraku: more ceremony than play, "Shibaraku" is one of the oldest pieces in Kabuki. Just as an evil villain is about to execute a group of loyal retainers, a voice calls out for him to wait and a hero appears to save the day. This version is a parody, though, as the hero is played by an onnagata female role specialist, who mixes the super-human strength of an aragoto hero with the soft gentleness of a Kabuki heroine. Featuring Bandô Tamasaburô as the heroine and Kataoka Gatô as the larger-than-life villain, with Nakamura Kichiemon as a friendly stage attendant who makes sure that everything goes right.

Hippô Denju:
2nd section of "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". Michizane, in this play called Kan Shôjô (Kataoka Nizaemon), after his title, knows that he will soon be exiled. Before he goes, he hands over the scroll of his secrets to his most talented student Genzô (Nakamura Baigyoku). But Genzô was disowned forever for having an affair with Tonami (Nakamura Shibajaku), another servant in the household. Only the intervention of Kan Shôjô’s wife Sonoo-no-Mae (Nakamura Kaishun) saved their lives. Even though Genzô receives his master’s teachings, he is not forgiven. Sugawara is arrested, but as Genzô and his wife leave, they rescue Kan Shôjô’s young son and take him to safety.

Benten Musume: this play is a sewamono (realistic play about commoners) written by the late 19th century playwright Mokuami who is famous for his plays about thieves. The thief Benten Kozô dresses up as a woman to commit extortion, but his plans are ruined when his disguise is seen through. In the highlight of the play, he undresses, showing his colorful tattoos and introduces himself in a famous poetic speech. Afterwards, he is joined by the members of his gang on a riverbank, and, using the playwright's famous poetic rhythms, in turn, they each boast of their careers as thieves. Onoe Kikugorô stars as Benten Kozô, with Matsumoto Kôshirô as Nippon Daemon, Nakamura Kichiemon as Nangô Rikimaru, Ichikawa Sadanji as Tadanobu Rihei and Nakamura Baigyoku as Akaboshi Jûzaburô.

Dômyôji:
3rd section of "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". On his way to exile, Kan Shôjô (Kataoka Nizaemon) is allowed to stop at the home of his aunt, Kakuju (Bandô Tamasaburô). There he carves a statue of himself for his aunt. But Princess Kariya (Kataoka Takatarô) is actually Kakuju's daughter and was adopted by Kan Shôjô. She has come desperately hoping to say farewell to him, but she is punished severely by Kakuju for having been responsible for Kan Shôjô's downfall. At the same time, Kakuju has another daughter, Tatsuta (Kataoka Hidetarô) and Tatsuta's husband Sukune Tarô (Bandô Yajûrô) and father-in-law (Nakamura Karoku) are plotting to assassinate Kan Shôjô by pretending to be the emissary to take him to exile and then killing him. But miraculously, the statue Kan Shôjô carved comes to life and saves his life. Finally, when the real emissary Terukuni (Kataoka Gatô) appears, Kan Shôjô must part from his family as he goes into exile.

Shakkyô:
(The Stone Bridge)
There are many plays about shishi or lion spirits in the Asian tradition, but the shishi is not actually a lion, it is a mythical animal that guards the stone bridge (Shakkyô) leading to the Buddhist paradise of Monju, the god of wisdom. Featuring Nakamura Tomijûrô, his young son Takanosuke and Matsumoto Kôshirô.

Source: Earphone Guide website

Nakamura Hashinosuke, Nakamura Senjaku

Revival at the National Theatre of Namiki Gohei's Kamigata masterpiece "Kinmon Gosan no Kiri":

Kinmon Gosan no Kiri: this play is famous for the twenty-minute scene where the great thief Ishikawa Goemon sits on the second floor of the gate of Nanzenji Temple in Kyôto and admires the view, the realm that he wishes to control. But under the gate is Mashiba Hisayoshi (the Kabuki name for Toyotomi Hideyoshi) the ruler of Japan, disguised as a humble Buddhist pilgrim. In that scene, this key confrontation is a crystallization of the stylized beauty of Kabuki. But this scene and this confrontation are just one short part of a very long play full of intrigue and spectacle. Ishikawa Goemon is not just a great thief, he is actually from China and his Chinese father has disguised himself as Japanese and gained a position of great responsibility in the Japanese court. But he is unmasked and his plots revealed and he commits suicide. However, Goemon continues his father’s quest to rule Japan. Starring Nakamura Hashinosuke as Goemon and Nakamura Senjaku as Mashiba Hisayoshi.

Source: Earphone Guide website

Kataoka Ainosuke, Ichikawa Somegorô, Kamimura Kichiya, Ichikawa Danjirô, Ichikawa Shun'en, Ichikawa En'ya

Hosokawa no Katakiuchi: Ôkawa Tomoemon (Ichikawa Somegorô), a samurai, yearns for the love of Innami Kazuma (Kataoka Ainosuke), a page at the service of the Hosokawa clan. He takes the decision to reject his own rank, to go into service as a page at the Hosakawa's mansion. The two young men not only indulge themselves with shûdô, but become also righteous brothers, vowing to take revenge against Yokoyama Zusho (Ichikawa En'ya), who was responsible for the downfall of Kazuma's father. Eventually, Tomoemon and Kazuma succeed in striking their enemy but, at the end of the fight, a terrible fire is about to destroy the treasure of the Hosokawa clan, where is kept a precious sealed certificate. Tomoemon jumps into the fire devastating the kura ... will Kazuma follow his lover into the flames? Featuring also Ichikawa Danjirô and Kamimura Kichiya in the roles of Hosokawa Ecchû-no-Kami and Hosokawa's okugata.

Nakamura Kanjaku, Nakamura Shidô, Ichikawa Kamejirô, Ichikawa Emisaburô, Nakamura Kikaku, Onoe Matsuya

Sumôba: "Futatsu Chôchô" means "two butterflies" and also comes from the fact that two sumô wrestlers who play important roles in the full length play have names beginning with "chô": Chôkichi and Chôgorô. In order to help his master Yamazakiya Yogorô (Ichikawa Kamejirô) buy out the contract of the beautiful Azuma (Onoe Matsuya), the senior wrestler Nuregami Chôgorô throws a match, letting the younger wrestler Hanaregoma Chôkichi win, hoping to get his help. But Chôkichi loses his temper and the two end up competing in a test of pride. Starring popular actor Nakamura Shidô as Chôgorô and Ichikawa Kamejirô as Chôkichi.

Sonezaki Shinjû: a young merchant named Tokubê has long been in love with the courtesan Ohatsu and is diligently trying to buy out her contract. But he is swindled out of his money by someone he considered a friend. Then he is beaten and humiliated in the precincts of the Ikutama shrine. He sneaks into the teahouse where Ohatsu is and she hides him under the veranda. At this point, Tokubê's "friend" comes and calls him a criminal. Ohatsu fiercely defends Tokubê and asks whether he is prepared to defend his honor by committing love suicide. Silently, from under the veranda, he holds her bare foot and draws it across his neck. The journey to the forest where they commit love suicide is like a dream, half-way between this world and the next and has some of the most famous lines in Japanese theatre: "Farewell to this world and to this night, farewell. To what should we who go to our deaths be likened? We are like the frost on the road leading to the graveyard, vanishing with each step". Starring Nakamura Kanjaku and his son Nakamura Kazutarô in the roles of Tokubê and Ohatsu.

Renjishi: 2 entertainers dance a tale of the legendary shishi or lion-like spirits that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. There is a comic interlude with 2 Buddhist pilgrims. Then, the shishi themselves appear and perform their dance with wild shaking of their long manes. The dance shows a parent shishi forcing his cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. This theme is often associated with the training a parent actor gives his son. This performance features Nakamura Shidô in the role of the parent shishi and his son Onoe Matsuya in the role of the cub.

Gonichi no Iwafuji:
(The Return of Iwafuji)
This play is a sequel to an earlier classic in which the evil lady-in-waiting Iwafuji caused the death of her rival Onoe by excessively persecuting her, including beating Onoe with a saddle. One ear later, Onoe's servant Onoe II (Ichikawa Emisaburô), who avenged her death by killing Iwafuji, has come to pray for the comfort of Iwafuji's spirit (Ichikawa Kamejirô). Iwafuji's bones come together magically and her spirit floats among the cherry blossoms. Later the spirit appears at the mansion to beat Onoe II with a saddle. Evil forces are plotting to take over the Taga household where Onoe works. The servant Torii Matasuke (Ichikawa Kamejirô) is harboring the faithful retainer Motome (Onoe Matsuya). He decides to kill his lord's consort, an evil woman who is one of the main forces in the plot, but through the scheming of another, he ends up killing his lord's wife instead. The death is blamed on Motome, and Matasuke must take his own life to clear Motome's name. In the end, the lord defeats all the evil forces threatening his realm and the ghost of Iwafuji returns to the afterworld. This play is one of the many that the popular star Ennosuke has revived and adapted to his own personal style, and it features spectacular special effects and large-scale fight scenes.

Source: Earphone Guide website