KOBIKICHŌ NO ADAUCHI

['The Vendetta at Kobikichō']

CAST :

Inō Kikunosuke

Ichikawa Somegorō

Shinoda Kinji

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Sakubē, a servant of the Inō family

Ichikawa Chūsha

Hotaru

Nakamura Kazutarō

Sanogawa Tsumahei

Nakamura Tanenosuke

Gorō, a geisha who celebrates the first day of the performance

Nakamura Toranosuke

Ippachi, a geisha who celebrates the first day of the performance

Ichikawa En'ya

Inō Seizaemon

Ichikawa Komazō

Kyūzō, a property man

Bandō Yajūrō

Yosaburō, a choreographer

Nakamura Matagorō

Yone, Kyūzō's wife

Nakamura Jakuemon

STORY :

This is a new kabuki production adapted from a period novel by prize-winning novelist Nagai Sayako, set in Kobikichō where the Kabukiza is situated.
Inō Seizaemon, the chief retainer of a daimyō lord, suddenly slashes at his son Kikunosuke who has returned from horse riding. While Kikunosuke is bewildered by his usually calm father's sudden change, his servant Sakubē crosses swords with Seizaemon and flees. Kikunosuke heads for Edo to avenge his father's death on Sakubē. Accepting his mother's advice, Kikunosuke goes to the Moritaza Theatre at Kobikichō. Spending days looking for his father's killer, and assisted by those concerned with the theatre, one day Kikunosuke encounters the playwright Kinji and…

KUROTEGUMI KURUWA NO TATEHIKI

['Sukeroku and the Black Hand Gang']

CAST :

Hanakawado no Sukeroku / Gonkurō, the head clerk

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Torii Shinzaemon

Nakamura Shikan

Shiratama, an apprentice courtesan

Nakamura Yonekichi

Ushiwaka Denji

Nakamura Hashinosuke

Asagao Senpei

Ōtani Hirotarō

Otatsu, the brothel madam

Ichimura Manjirō

Onaka, the proprietress of the Miuraya

Ichikawa Komazō

Tōei, a haiku poet

Ōtani Tomoemon

Agemaki, courtesan of the Miuraya

Nakamura Kaishun

Kinokuniya Bunzaemon

Matsumoto Hakuō

STORY :

This play by the 19th century playwright Kawatake Mokuami combines the sunny world of the kabuki classic Sukeroku, about the handsome hero Sukeroku and his lover Agemaki, the top courtesan in the Yoshiwara, with his own dark world of thieves and absconding clerks and the ironic twists of karma.

HIKOSAN GONGEN CHIKAI NO SUKEDACHI
Sugisaka Bosho, Keyamura

['Sugisaka Grave and Keyamura Village' from 'Rokusuke helps his Fiancée take Revenge']

CAST :

Keyamura Rokusuke

Kataoka Nizaemon (on odd days)
Matsumoto Kōshirō (on even days)

Osono

Kataoka Takatarō

Yasomatsu, Ichimisai's grandson

Nakamura Hidenosuke

Onoemon, a logger

Nakamura Kashō

Mijin Danjō, in reality, Kyōgoku Takumi

Nakamura Karoku

Okō

Nakamura Tōzō

STORY :

Rokusuke, a farmer who lives at the foot of Mt. Hiko in Buzen Province, is a master swordsman. In Kokura Domain, a proclamation has been issued that they will employ any man who defeats Rokusuke as a retainer. After his mother's death, Rokusuke keeps vigil at Sugisaka Grave for 49 nights. One night, when Rokusuke is praying to Amida Buddha, Mijin Danjō, a masterless samurai passes by with his old mother. Mijin Danjō, wanting to be a good son, asks Rokusuke to let him win the sword match. Touched by his filial piety towards his mother, Rokusuke promises to do so. After they part, a young samurai serving Rokusuke's master, Yoshioka Ichimisai, is attacked by a bandit. Rokusuke drives the bandit away, but he breathes his last after leaving the boy he was with in Rokusuke's care. A few days later the sword match is held at Rokusuke's house and Rokusuke gives Danjō the match as he had promised. Just after, Rokusuke's fiancée Osono whom Rokusuke has never met comes to Rokusuke's house disguised as a Zen priest. To Rokusuke's surprise, Yasomatsu, the boy left in Rokusuke's care, turns out to be the son of Osono's sister. Furthermore, Rokusuke finds out that Danjō is in reality Kyōgoku Takumi who attacked Ichimisai, Osono's father and Rokusuke's master, under the cover of darkness. Rokusuke becomes furious now that he knows he was deceived, and goes out with Osono to avenge himself on Kyōgoku Takumi.

SHUNKYŌ KAGAMI JISHI

['Young Palace Maid and the Spirit of the Lion']

CAST :

Yayoi, a palace maid / the spirit of the lion

Onoe Ukon

STORY :

The palace maid Yayoi performs an auspicious lion dance for the shōgun in his opulent palace, but as she does so she gradually finds herself coming under the control of the lion spirit. In the second half of the dance, the lion spirit itself appears and performs its frenzied dance among peonies and fluttering butterflies.

MUHITSU NO SHUSSE

['Success of the Illiterate']

CAST :

Jisuke, a servant, later, Matsuyama Jisuke, Lord of Iyo

Onoe Shōroku
Bandō Kamezō (on 9th, 16th and 23rd)

Kyūzō, a dyer

Bandō Kamezō
Ichikawa Chūsha (on 9th, 16th and 23rd)

Jiichirō, son of the Lord of Iyo

Onoe Sakon

Natsume Sanai

Ichikawa Chūsha
Onoe Shōroku (on 9th, 16th and 23rd)

Sassa Yozaemon

Nakamura Ganjirō

Kanda Shōri

STORY :

This is a new kabuki production adapted from a Kōdan story by Kanda Shōri, which portrays precisely how the illiterate Jisuke single-mindedly learns letters and succeeds in life. On a summer day, the servant Jisuke gets on a ferry across the Ōkawa River to deliver a letter from his master Sassa Yozaemon who is a direct retainer of the shōgun. Jisuke does not know the text of the letter as he is illiterate. As he drops the letter, the priest there tells him the surprising facts and… Kanda Shōri himself will also appear in the play.