The Osaka Shochikuza Theatre in Osaka is set to close after its May performances due to the building’s deterioration. To mark the occasion, the historic venue has launched a final two-month run of consecutive kabuki performances as a farewell celebration.
The current program, “Farewell April Grand Kabuki,” runs through April 26 and features comedies and dance pieces featuring a range of colorful characters.
Yasomatsu (Nakamura Haruki, right) and Rokusuke (Nakamura Shido II).
Program Highlights
The daytime program opens with “Keyamura,” a classic gidayu-kyogen play, starring Shido Nakamura in the lead role of Rokusuke, a master martial artist.
In “Yugiri Nagori no Shogatsu,” Ogiya Yugiri (Nakamura Kazutaro, right) appears before Izaemon Fujiya (Nakamura Toranosuke, left), the roles performed by two grandsons of Sakata Tojuro VI.
Also on the bill is “Yugiri Nagori no Shogatsu,” a performance commemorating the seventh anniversary of the death of Sakata Tojuro IV, who passed away in 2020. His grandsons, Nakamura Kazutaro and Nakamura Toranosuke, perform graceful dances in his memory.
The comedy “Oatari Fushimi no Tomikuji” features an eccentric cast of characters, including a kappa (mythical river creature) and a cat. Matsumoto Koshiro X plays Kojiro, a scrap-paper dealer, while Nakamura Ganjiro IV takes on the role of the heroine Nioteru Tayu, the two trading humorous exchanges on stage.
In “Oatari Fushimi no Tomikuji,” Kojiro (Matsumoto Koshiro X) goes to visit Nioteru Tayu (Nakamura Ganjiro IV, right) using money from a purse he has found.
The evening program includes “Terakoya,” from one of kabuki’s three great masterpieces, Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami, alongside the dance piece “Gojo Bridge,” which depicts the legendary first meeting between Benkei and the samurai Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
Hatsune, Nioteru Tayu’s pet cat (Kamimura Kichitaro, left), and Kojiro (Matsumoto Koshiro).
A senior retainer of the Mizushima domain (Nakamura Shido) makes advances toward Okinu (Nakamura Kazutaro, right), Kojiro’s younger sister.
The farewell season continues with the “Farewell May Grand Kabuki,” running from May 2 to 26.
The theater’s operator Shochiku has reached an agreement with Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City to preserve Shochikuza’s functions in some form. The venue will temporarily close following the May performances, after which more concrete plans are expected to be announced.
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Miyako Nagumo, The Sankei Shimbun
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AloJapan.com