Program
I (from 11 AM):
MUSUME KAGEKIYO YASHIMA NIKKI
This is a very rare performance of a period play. The Heike
general Kagekiyo is famous for having put his eyes out rather
than see the world that is ruled by the enemy Genji clan.
Now he is blind and in exile, but his daughter visits him
to try to persuade him to return home with her. He is torn
between his pride as a warrior and affection toward her
as her father.
CHIKAGORO KAWARA NO TATEHIKI
【The Monkey Trainer and
the Love of Oshun and Dembei】
This is a rare performance of a sewamono play about
the lives of commoners. The courtesan Oshun and Dembei are
lovers, but after Dembei ends up killing his rival in love,
they decide that they must die together. They flee to her
family home, where her blind mother teaches music and her
older brother Yojiro is a performer with a trained monkey.
Finally, moved by the depth of love between Oshun and Dembei,
her mother and brother sadly agree that they have no choice
but to die and in the final bittersweet moment, Yojiro says
farewell with a cheerful monkey dance, an auspicious dance
to celebrate the wedding of Oshun and Dembei.
Program Ⅱ(from 4 PM)
ICHINOTANI FUTABA GUNKI 【Chronicle of the Battle of Ichinotani】
One of the climactic battles between the Heike and Genji clans
took place on the beach at Suma, when the Genji made a surprise
attack on the Heike camp and drove the Heike to escape in
their boats. In one of the most famous episodes of that battle,
the Genji warrior Kumagai was riding on the beach searching
for a worthy opponent when he saw a magnificent general. But
fighting with him, he suddenly found that it was a young boy,
named Atsumori, the same age as his son. Kumagai wanted to
spare Atsumori, but couldn’t and eventually he was moved to
reject the life of a warrior and become a Buddhist priest.
The Bunraku version of this story shows the battle between
Kumagai and Atsumori, but transforms it into a complex drama
of love, duty and sacrifice with some very surprising plot
twists.
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DATE MUSUME
KOI NO HIGANOKO 【Yaoya Oshichi and the Fire Watchtower】
This is based on the famous story of Oshichi who was
a young girl who fell in love with a temple page named
Kichisa when her family took refuge in a temple after
a fire. Later, Oshichi wanted to meet Kichisa again
and thought that the best way to do that would be by
setting another fire. But arson was punishable by death.
In the theater this has been changed to Oshichi climbing
a fire watchtower and pounding a drum as a false alarm.
The desperate Oshichi climbs in the midst of the snow
and the desperation of her passion is represented by
the vigor by which she climbs the tower, a showpiece
for the artistry of the puppets. |
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