Kabuki Plus
Rehearsals for premiere production
Yamato Takeru rehearsed for one month, a notably long period in Kabuki terms. Dress rehearsals went on for a week. On 2 February, two days before the opening, the rehearsal went from 10am to 11pm. On 3 February, there were two full dress rehearsals lasting 4.5 hours each. That is, the cast and crew participated in intensive 12-hour rehearsals two days in a row.
Unusual experiments for unusual performance
・An English program was made available separate from the Japanese version. ・A curtain call was introduced for the first time in Kabuki. ・A ¥130 million budget was set aside for the lavish costumes. The star’s flying white bird costume alone cost ¥7 million using 2,500 feathers stretching over four meters, requiring 180 persons working for over three months. ・The production staff was also lavish, with prominent names from outside the Kabuki world employed for artistic direction, staging, lighting design, costumes and music. A model set was constructed in planning more typical of opera.
Premiere and thereafter
The show opened at Tokyo’s Enbujo Theatre on 4 February 1986, which became an epoch-making day. It ran every day at that theater for an unusually long two months without break, twice as long as normal Kabuki shows. The cast had big names in key roles, some of whom are now deceased. The production traveled to Nagoya in May, Kyoto in June and back to Tokyo in October and November. For the revival in 2005, the title role was double-cast for the first time with Ichikawa Ukon and Ichikawa Danjiro.
Super Kabuki series
notable!Yamato Takeru, the first in what became the Super Kabuki series, confirmed decisively that Kabuki remains a major entertainment in the modern world. It had a run of five months in several cities in its debut and another four months in a revival two years later, playing to a record of nearly 550,000 viewers. Subsequent works were created in its wake. A total of nine Super Kabuki pieces have been presented thus far, all premiering at the Enbujo Theatre: Ryu-o in 1989, Oguri in 1991, Hakkenden in 1993, Kaguya in 1996, O-kuninushi in 1997, New Three Kingdoms in 1999, New Three Kingdoms II in 2001, and New Three Kingdoms III in 2003. Yamato Takeru effectively created a new genre.
Name-succession performance
Yamato Takeru was revived at the Enbujo in June-July 2012. It was presented not as a separate event but as part of the normal Grand Kabuki performances in those months, a special moment for the show. This was a 50th-year memorial for Ichikawa En’o I and Ichikawa Danshiro III and a joint name-succession performance for four actors from the Ichikawa family taking the names En’o II (the creator and original star of Yamato under the name Ennosuke III), Ennosuke IV, Chusha IX and Danko V (making his stage debut). It was performed as the evening show in June and the matinee show in July. This was the 19th production of the show. The script has been constantly refined and the sets redesigned for different theaters. Ennosuke IV is the fourth actor to assume the title role, ensuring the continuation of the Super Kabuki genre.
Notes from En’o II (Ennosuke III)
notable!・“Yamato Takeru is an experiment for the Kabuki of tomorrow. We sought ideas for a new Kabuki structure going beyond the similar experiments in the modernist Meiji Era. That is what we wanted to achieve with this show.” ・“The show mixes elements of modern drama and traditional Kabuki stage effects, while borrowing from other stage forms such as opera. We were concerned during its creation that it may end as just a noble experiment.” ・“One innovation is that it includes a curtain call [a departure from traditional Kabuki]. Unlike the usual curtain call, it is designed like a solemn requiem to show Takeru’s love for his father and his purity of heart. We wanted to express those emotions in our stage directions.” ・“I firmly believe that the creation of a piece linking tradition with the wave of the current times will lead to the revitalization of Kabuki.” ・“Yamato Takeru is constantly on stage and constantly speaking. It is three times more tiring than other Super Kabuki roles. I regard that role as a lifetime challenge, and want to fly high in the sky again with the young members of my troupe.” (The Omodaka News, 15 February 2005)
