NOVEMBER
"KAOMISE"PERFORMANCES
The term , "Kaomise", (literally, "face-showing"), refers to the annual performances held in November. It was the custom dating from the17th century for each of the major theatres to announce its new company of actors who were contracted to perform at that theatre for the following year.
The November programme was therefore the first "showing" of this particular group of actors to the public. Today, the term has lost much of its original significance because almost all Kabuki actors are now contracted to one single production company, (Shochiku), which owns all the Kabuki theatres in Tokyo except the National Theatre, and actors today do not remain at one theatre for the year but move freely among several.
However, the November performances do retain some of their glamour from the fact that they feature a larger number of "star" actors than is normal, usually in plays or dance which are regarded as standard favourites. It is therefore no surprise to find such works as, "Kanjincho", or a variation of the dance, "Musume Dojoji" on the program.
江戸芝居町図（江戸期）から
KABUKI-ZA
Hiru-no-bu
Miyajima no Danmari
Oishi Saigono Ichiniti
Yakko Dojoji
Izayoi Seishin
KABUKI-ZA
Yoru-no-bu
KABUKI-ZA
Hiru-no-bu
1). "Miyajima-no "Danmari".
A, "Danmari", is a play or scene without dialogue. It is often associated with, "Kaomise", performances because it affords a perfect opportunity to introduce all the major actors of a troupe to the audience. "Danmari" were originally performed within the context of a long play and usually featured characters from that play, but today many of the most famous, "Danmari", have become short, independent pieces.
The typical, "jidai danmari", (a, "danmari", from an historical drama), is highly stylised, and features the kind of musical accompaniment called, "Ozatsuma". (This is a special declamatory style of narration performed to robust and powerful shamisen accompaiment. It is well suited to the masculine and exaggerated acting style known as, "Aragoto", or else to passages of great grandeur in historical plays. "Ozatsuma" was once an independent musical school, but today is performed by musicians of the, "Nagauta", style.) A,"Danmari". is often set at night in the mountains, where a group of different characters accidentally come together in search of a missing treasure or flag. as they grope about in the darkness the object of their search will pass from one to the other until at last, one character will make off with it, leaving all the others to pose grandly as the curtain is drawn. The character in possession of the treasure will thus be left alone on the hanamichi pathway, where he or she will then make a stylised exit called, "roppo". (Literally meaning, "six directions", the term. "roppo" refers to the violent swinging of the arms and legs as the actor makes his way to the back of the auditorium. auditorium.)
The play, "Miyajima no Danmari" which begins the day's performance at the Kabuki-za this month was first performed in 1842, although the main character of the infamous thief, Kesataro, (disguised as the courtesan Ukifune), was not established until 1862, when it was played by one of the greatest actors of the Bakumatsu period, Ichikawa Kodanji V. Even today, when one looks at Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Kodaji's performance, one can feel the thrill of his stage presence and the mysterious atmosphere of grand historical drama nixed with the sinister underworld of criminals and evil sorcerors. Afterall, "Miyajima no Danmari" was written by master playwright, Kawatake Mokuami. Sadly, it seems almost impossible for the majority of modern-day Kabuki actors to recapture the original atmosphere and excitement that should accompany such plays. The cast this month features Sawamura Tojuro in the leading role of Kesataro / Ukifune; Bando Hikosaburo as the evil leader of the Heike clan, Kiyomori; Nakamura Kasho as the hero, Hatakeyama Shigetada; and Nakamura Senjaku as Kawatsu Saburo. Other miner actors fill out the cast which altogether lacks the "star appeal" that is necessary for a "kaomise" production of this kind. Actors today so often seem unconvinced by what they are doing on stage that, inevitably, the audience finds them unconvincing too.
"Miyajima no Danmari" is somewhat unusual in that, rather than being set in the mountains, the action takes place at the Itsukushima Shrine by the sea. This provides a very beautiful backdrop which is given life by the lyrics of the Ozatsuma accompaniment. This describes how the lights from the shrine's lanterns reflect in the water, how a hazy moon shines down upon the sand, washed by the salt tide, and how the murmur of lapping waves is heard softly in the background.
After this, the performance is all down hill! Three characters rise into view on the central stage-lift: in the centre and holding a letter-scroll is the top-ranking courtesan, Ukifune, and on either side of her are two young men, Shigetada and Kawatsu Saburo. Shigetada, a warrior of the Genji clan, has come to investigate reports of thefts and strange happenings in the area, and he is particularly surprised by the presence of acourtesan. An important scroll has gone missing and he suspects that Ukifune has stolen it, but when he questions her about the scroll in her possession she insists it is a love letter.
Suddenly we are to imagine that the lanterns' lights are blown out by a sea breeze and all is plunged into darkness. Here begins the, "danmari", itself for several characters appear, mostly in disguise, and all grope about for the scroll. "Danmari" are usually regarded as great tests of the actors' abilities because they must project their presence to the audience without words, but this month's cast is totally unable to do so. Tojuro, Kasho and Senjaku are not bad actors if given the right roles, but they severely lack the sense of authority and weight demanded by this play.
Yet more characters appear who are not all explained in text, but who include the leader of the Heike clan, lord Kiyomori. Ukifune reveals her occult powers by vanishing into a large stone lantern, after which all the other characters form a long chain on stage. This is also very characteristic of "danmari" scenes and is known as, "jakago", "snake basket", a term that likens their long shape to that of a serpent. Such stylised movements are among the highlights of these, "danmari" , and are appreciated for their formal beauty and imposing atmospere. Again, any such atmosphere is greatly missed this month.
Eventually, Ukifune reappears, though now her form has changed into that of a man. His true identity is the notorious thief, Kesataro, who has the power to transform his appearance. At last, the precious scroll is unravelled: it is the red flag of the Heike clan, an important symbol of authority, and all the main actors grab hold of it. After another silent struggle, Kesataro manages to retrieve the flag and again disappears down a smaller stage-left, leaving the rest of the cast to perform the final grand pose as the curtain is drawn. This final pose is an, "hippari no mie", "pulling-apart pose", so named because all the main characters seem to be pulling away from each other, with Kiyomori standing on a red platform in the centre.
The play is not yet over. We now reach one Kabuki's great moments as the thief, Kesataro, reappears mysteriously on the hanamichi, "suppon", a stage-lift usually reserved for ghosts and occult beings. Kesataro is in the middle of transforming back into the female Ukifune and so the upper half is still that of a man while the bottom half is now a woman. From his waist down are the three layers of brocade kimono worn by courtesans and in his hair have appeared fabulous tortoise-shell hairpins. He carries the treasured flag with him.
It is now that the actor makes his unique exit. Though it is normal in "danmari" for the actor to execute a, "roppo", this is the only instance of a semi-finale, "roppo", and it is known as the "keisei", "courtesan roppo". The actor must portray both the female Ukifune, and the male Kesataro as he exits, and he should make the characterisations clear to the audience as does so. Ukifune will walk in the distictive, "hachimonji", "figure-eight" style that was adopted by courtesans as they paraded through the streets of the pleasure quarters, while Kesataro will perform magnificent, "mie" poses, crossing one eye in typical male-role fashion. The skill required of the actor is tremendous for he must not only execute all this with technical brilliance, but must also convince the audience of the dual nature of his character at the same time. It is proper that the audience should believe what is happening, but for this it is necessary for the actor also to be believe and to take the role absolutely seriously. In my experience I have seen three actors attempt this exit: Nakamura Shikan, Sawamura Sojuro and Sawamura Tojuro, and while Sojuro was not bat, only Shikan was able to capture the audience successfully.
2). "Oishi Saigo no Ichinichi".
This forms one part of the series of plays called, "Genroku Chushingura", written by Mayama Seika in 1934. It therefore belongs to the category known as, "Shin Kabuki", "New Kabuki". (This term refers to new works written for Kabuki since the Meiji Period by authors who were not Kabuki playwrights in the sense of being attached to the theatres themselves. They are dialogue drama--works which rely solely on the spoken word rather than on other aspects of Kabuki's traditional performance techniques, and in their representational form they seek to copy modern Western plays. ) Ironically, though this kind of play models itself upon Western plays, it is usually the least popular among Western audiences.
One reason for this is possibly the fact that if Westerners wanted to see dialogue drama, they would have plenty of great examples to choose from in the West! Furthermore, plays such as, "Oishi Saigo no Ichinichi", are so often heavy-handed in their approach; their, "meanings", are too obvious, and though they profess to consider the psychological depth of main characters, they often end up with one-dimensional moralising, as though the author were standing on a soapbox and lecturing the audience.
Psychological depth requires characters to be multi-faceted, to show the inner struggle between real conflicting emotions--in short,it requires characters to be, "human". Yet men like Oishi Kuranosuke are simply too wonderful to be interesting. He is the personification of samurai virtue: upright, courageous, determined, and yet, though his will seems inflexible, the man, "has a heart". he is never properly challenged in the play, and his main task is simply to figure out a way of allowing the young woman, Omino, to meet up with her sweetheart, Isogai Jurozaemon one last time before everybody kills themselves. This is not enough. This is not worthy of great drama, no matter how talented the actor.
It merely serves as the perfect opportunity to sink back into that deluding quagmire of sentimentality which we find so often on our television screens in the weekly soap-operas. The moral of the entire play is simply: One should remain faithful to one's first impulse for that impulse will be the most sincere. Oh, please! Such shallow sentiments were undoubtably popular during the years before the 2nd World War when this play was written, but today they seem dated in the extreme.
A word should perhaps be said about the presentation of "Oishi Saigo no Icinichi". The sets are extremely beautiful, each scene composed carefully like an ikebana flower arrangement, but this coupled with the lack of human action on stage means that the whole experience is very static--a talking picture. All plays by Mayama Seika are directed by Seika's daughter, Mayama Miho, who is always at great pains during rehearsals to get everything exactly the same as before. The precise position of all actors and props is recorded in detail, as well, one suspects, as the way of acting a particular role. While this may not sound so unusual for a Kabuki play, there is always the danger of this leading to an obsession with details as an end in themselves, and perhaps it was this that contributed to the, "doll-like" sensation of the acting.
「道成寺」白拍子花子 市川団十郎（９代）明治２３年３月歌舞伎座
3). "Yakko Dojoji".
At last, a dance! Some movement, and some real music! This is the first of three items from this month's Kabuki-za production that commemorates the 37th anniversary of the death of Mitsugoro VII, (1882-1961), and the 23rd anniversary of the death of Mitsugoro VIII, (1906-75), Mitsugoro VII in particular, is considered one of the greatest Kabuki dancers of this century, and so it is fitting that, "Yakko Dojoji" should be staged in rememberance of him, and of his acting tradition of which the work is typical. This month it is performed by Bando Yasosuke, the grandson of Mitsugoro VIII, and an extremely talented dancer in his own right. Choreographic supervision is by Mitsugoro IX, Yasosuke's father.
"Yakko Dojoji" is a variation of one of the most famous dances in the Kabuki repertoire, "Kyoganoko Musume Dojoji", and there are many references to the latter throughout the dance. However, the overall effect of the original story is weakened in this version which is more in the vein of a light-hearted parody. The shirabyoshi dancer, Hanako, (in reality, the evil spirit of Kiyohime who has come to the Dojo temple to destroy the new temple bell), turns out in, "Yakko Dojoji", to be a man in disguise and not Kiyohime at all. He has come to the temple to retrieve a hidden treasure that is tied to the rope above the bell. Though the dance was originally one part of a very long play which provided a more logical context for this story, today, "Yakko Dojoji" is an independent piece, and for the most part, is really only an excuse to have the original onnagata dance, "Musume Dojoji", performed instead by an actor of male roles.
The dance begins in the same way as, "Musume Dojoji", except that the costume of the shirabyoshi copies that of the No theatre. In the Mitsugoro acting tradition, ("kata"), the "ranbyoshi" section is far longer than usual allowing for the build up of suspense, and the lovely "Kane tsukushi" section is also very similar. In the original, "Musume Dojoji", this is one of my favourite sections for the haunting beauty of its melody, and so it is just as well that they don't change too much in this version. The musical style here is Nagauta.
Immediately after this, however, the dancer's hat and wig come off and the priests of the temple realize that this is a man. It is from here that, "Yakko Dojoji" differs substantially from the original, and a different set of musicians from the Tokiwazu school join in to share the lyrics with the Nagauta. This does not take place in, "Musume Dojoji", and the effect of this musical combination, ("kakeai"), is to add chic, charm and wit. What follows is a light-hearted section in which Yasosuke demonstrates his skilfull timing and the fluidity and accuracy of his movements.
We eventually reach the famous, "kudoki", section which is the highlight of the original. This version is a kind of parody because the actor begins to wear a series of masks which portray a courtesan, her rich customer / lover, and a, "taikomochi", a professional jester, in the employ of the brothel at which this pantomime takes place. For the actor, this is the most difficult section to perform for he must be accurate and very quick in his changes from one character to another. Again, Yasosuke is ideally suited to this kind of performance, and the section is amusing and very effective.
The final section also differs from, "Musume Dojoji" in that it is presented as a fight scene between our main dancer and a group of men who have pursued him here. This is not a serious fight, but is instead a colourful and acrobatic finale featuring a series of set poses performed en masse. The movements are carefully choreographed and the entire section is known as a, "Shosadate". At the end, our dancer defeats the men and makes for the treasure, but instead of the bell descending to the stage for the actor to climb upon, in Mitsugoro's, "kata", the actor mounts a red stair-like platform for the final pose. Furthermore, rather than a,"bukkaeri" costume change into a kimono patterned with triangular golden scales to represent the scales of a serpent, in this version the kimono is crimson red and patterned with, "weeping cherry", a design also found on the shirabyoshi's kimono at the beginning of the "ranbyoushi" in, "Musume Dojoji".
Overall, "Yakko Dojoji" is a beautiful dance performed beautifully by Yasosuke, but for artistic merit, it cannot compare to the profound and deeply moving effect of the original, "Musume Dojoji".
4). "Izayoi Seishin".
This is one act from the long play, "Sato Moyo Azami no Ironui", written again by Kawatake Mokuami. It was first presented in 1859 and belongs to a category of, "thief", plays called, "shiranamimono". (The term, "shiranami", "white waves", is a synonym for, "robber") This act is performed to Kiyomoto musical accompaniment, and it features Onoe Kikugoro as the priest, Seishin, Nakumura Shikan as his lover, Izayoi, and Nakamura Kichemon as the poet, Byakuren.
In the story the young priest, Seishin is discovered to be having a love affair with the geisha. Izayoi, and is banished as a punishment. Izayoi follows, begging to be allowed to accompany him but he refuses. When she eventually tells him that she carries his child, they decide that the only way out of their predicament is to die together. They leap into the river. The highlight of this first scene is the, "kudoki" performed by Izayoi as she pleads with Seishin to take her with him. This is accompanied by extremely beautiful Kiyomoto music and as a veteran actor of female roles, Shikan is very good to watch in this role.
Though both characters try to drown themselves, neither actually succeeds, and in the second scene Izayoi is caught up in a large fishing net belonging to the poet, Byakuren, and is saved. It is the third scene however, that proves the most interesting. Seishin also hasn't drowned because he says he is too good a swimmer, an excuse that hints at his lack of backbone and weakness. As he fills his sleeves with stones in another attempt at death by drowning, his character is tested further. Along comes a young page by the name of Motome carrying 50 gold pieces. As he enters on the hanamichi both actors speak alternately in a passage of rhythmic dialogue that is superb to hear. The boy Motome is played by Onoe Kikunosuke, (Kikugoro's son), and their close rapport shows itself successfully on stage. The boy has an attack of cramps and falls to the ground in pain. At first Seishin tries to help by massaging his chest, but when he discovers the packet of money, his nature gradually changes from that of a weak but harmless young man into that of a far more sinister character. With nothing left to lose, Seishin resolves to become a thief.
This is not an easy transition to make for any actor, but Kikugoro seems born to play such roles and it is doubtful whether any other Kabuki actor now living could equal his skill. Although Kataoka Takao is also well known for this role, it is Kikugoro who has played it more times than anyone else in recent years and he excels at creating that special atmosphere which seems almost comic on the surface, but which has a rather frightening and deadly serious underside. After much soul-searching, Seishin murders the boy and steals the money.
"Izayoi Seishin" is an excellent play which has much to recommend it in the form of lovely, seductive music, wonderful dialogue, a beautiful and atmospheric set, comic ,tragic and exciting sections, and even another danmari at the end! This time it is a, "Sewa-danmari": another line of people in the dark, but in this case they are characters from the everyday world of old Edo.
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