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This volume provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the history of kabuki, Japan''s ''music-dance-drama''. It traces the development of the form from its ribald, burlesque beginnings in the early 1600s, through to the 21st century experimental fusions with pop culture that are on-going today and examines five popular works drawn from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Along the way, it examines the development of star-driven commercial theatre with blockbuster plays; the 250 year running conflict with the ruling samurai regime; the invention of horror theatre; and classicization and Western influence in the 19th and 20th centuries. Within this historical framework the author analyses in detail five of the most frequently performed kabuki plays, focusing on play writing and inter-textuality, stage presentation (costuming/direction /acting/stage effects), and audience reception from first performances until today, both in Japan and abroad. Drawing on his directorial experience, Kominz explores how fine acting and dance, and exciting staging are used to facilitate intense audience engagement with both the story they are witnessing, and with the stage actors themselves.
List of contents
List of Figures
Series Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One. Kabuki's First Century - From Burlesque to MelodramaChapter Two. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japan's Greatest PlaywrightShunkan on Devil's Island- Heroic Self-sacrifice in the Face of Tyranny
Chapter Three. Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Master of Aragoto (Bravura) Kabuki, and his Descendents' Triumphs and Tragedies Sukeroku: The Flower of Edo, a fusion of Bravado and Romance
The Medicine Peddler: a Tour-de-Force of Humor and Advertising
Chapter Four. Chûshingura-The Revenge of the 47 Loyal Retainers, Japan's Beloved Revenge Saga Kabuki's
Chûshingura: The Loyal 47 Epic Unfolds on Stage
Chapter Five. Tsuruya Namboku IV Creates Horror Kabuki: Ghost Stories at Yotsuya (Yotsuya Kaidan)Yotsuya Kaidan as it is Performed Today
Chapter Six. From Mokuami to Mishima to Manga: Kabuki from 1870 to Today with Mishima's The Sardine Seller's Net of Love (1954)Kabuki's Best Romantic Comedy:
The Sardine Seller's Net of LoveReferences
Index
About the author
Dr. Laurence R. Kominz is Professor of Japanese Language and Literature at Portland State University, USA. He publishes on the literature, history, and performance of kabuki, kyôgen, bunraku, and noh, and teaches and directs student performances of kyôgen and kabuki. HIs publications include
Mishima on Stage: The Black Lizard and Other Plays (2007),
The Stars who Created Kabuki: Their Lives, Loves and Legacy (1997) and
Avatars of Vengeance: Japanese Drama and the Soga Literary Tradition (1995). He has translated and directed many kabuki plays.
