Overview
| Title | Genroku Chushingura |
|---|---|
| Writer | Mayama Seika |
| Premiere |
February 1934 – November 1941, Tokyo |
| Overview |
This play shares the same source as the classic Kanadehon Chushingura but takes a distinctly different approach. It is a new historic epic written during the 1930s and is recognized as writer Mayama Seika’s masterpiece. Seika wrote a number of great works featuring strong characters and dialogue in elegant Japanese that still move audiences nearly a century on. Genroku Chushingura, though based on fact, reflects the author’s keen views on history and human nature. It is a highly literate piece that does not rely on traditional Kabuki elements. The story does not even include the key scene in the palace that triggered the tragedy or the final revenge attack. It is focused rather on how peripheral and background characters reacted to events. The drama is an epic extending to ten acts. The final act, “Ôishi Kuranosuke’s Last Day”, was actually the first to be performed, debuting in February 1934 and starring Ichikawa Sadanji II. Its success led to the creation of the show’s first two acts, “The Attack in Edo Castle” and “The Second Messenger”, performed in January the following year. “The Final Judgment” (Act 3) was then staged in April. “The Back Gate of Kira’s Mansion” (Act 7) and the first half of “The Judgment at Lord Sengoku’s Mansion” (Act 9) came in April 1938; “The Parting in the Snow at Nambuzaka” (Act 6), November 1938; the second half of “The Judgment at Lord Sengoku’s Mansion” (Act 9), February 1939; “At Fushimi Shumokucho” (Act 4), April 1939; and “Lord Tokugawa Tsunatoyo” (Act 5), January 1940. Sadanji played the main role in all of these acts. After Sadanji’s death, the final piece, “Sengakuji” (Act 8), debuted in November 1941 under Ennosuke II. The play was also performed for three successive years by the Zenshinza Troupe. The famed film director Mizoguchi Kenji helmed a movie version in 1940 and 1941. The show is often performed in its entirety, though that cannot be done in a single day; it was staged by the National Theatre over a three-month period in 2006.
●main graphic ［from left］Omino（Kataoka Takataro）、Horiuchi Den-emon（Bando Yajuro）、Isogai Jurozaemon（Nakamura Kinnosuke）、Oishi Kuranosuke（Matsumoto Koshiro） June 2014 Kabukiza Theatre
●publication date March 2017 |
- External links
-