Full Moon Over the Hachiman Festival

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Full Moon Over the Hachiman Festival

August 1918, Tokyo

This is the most frequently performed of Ikeda Daigo’s plays along with Saigo Takamori and the Pig Princess. It is a reworking of a drama by the late-19th-century playwright Kawatake Mokuami, removing the Buddhist causality elements typical of Edo Period works and focusing not on the pre-festival preparations but on the events of the festival day. The revised work was a modern drama highlighting the contrast between the naïve country merchant Shinsuke and the seasoned city geisha Miyokichi. The play is said to have been influenced by two French dramas, the 18th-century play Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost and 19th-century play Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. In the premiere, the role of Shinsuke was played by Ichikawa Sadanji II, Miyokichi by Sawamura Gennosuke IV, and Sanji by Ichikawa Sumizo VI (later Jukai III). Kichiemon I was also well known for his portrayal of Shinsuke.

●main graphic ［from left］Miyokichi（Nakamura Shibajaku）、Shinsuke（Nakamura Kichiemon）、Otake（Nakamura Kamenojo）、Uoso（Nakamura Karoku）　June 2014　Kabukiza Theatre

●publication date　July 2016