GOHIIKI KANJINCHŌ

['The Subscription Scroll of Theatre Patrons']

CAST :

Musashibō Benkei

Bandō Minosuke

Togashi no Saemon

Nakamura Hashinosuke

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Bandō Shingo

STORY :

In the famous play 'Kanjinchō' (The Subscription Scroll), the wise and powerful Benkei gets his master Yoshitsune through a barrier gate by using his wits.This work, 'Gohiiki Kanjinchō', employs the very old 'aragoto' style of acting to create a leisurely and comic version of the same story.
Benkei gets his master Yoshitsune through the barrier by pretending to be very weak and allowing himself to be tied up. He cries like a baby when he is tormented by the barrier guards. But when Benkei recognizes that his master is safe, he explodes with energy, displaying the bombastic 'aragoto' acting style. He breaks the ropes and pulls off the heads of the attendants, tossing them into a barrel and washing them like a bunch of potatoes.

MICHIYUKI YUKI NO FURUSATO
Ninokuchimura

['Traveling Home in the First Snow']

CAST :

Umegawa, a courtesan

Nakamura Jakuemon

Manzai, a performer

Nakamura Kinnosuke

Kameya Chūbē

Nakamura Senjaku

STORY :

This is a dance adaptation of 'Ninokuchi Mura' ['Ninokuchi Village'] from the play 'Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ōrai’ ['Love’s Messenger to Yamato'].
In danger of losing his lover, the courtesan Umegawa, the money courier Chūbē broke the seals on a package of money entrusted to him, even though the use of such money was punishable by death. In this scene, on their way to commit a lovers' double suicide, the couple journey through the snow-covered landscape on their way to Chūbē's home town.

CHŌJŪ GIGA EMAKI

['Illustrated Scrolls of Caricatures of Frolicking Birds and Animals']

CAST :

Priest Monkey

Onoe Shōroku

A female frog

Nakamura Manju

A male frog

Nakamura Shikan

Priest Toba

Onoe Kikugorō VII

STORY :

This dance drama is set at the end of Heian period (12th century) in the mountains lying to the west of Kyoto. While the monk Toba Sōjō paints and chats with the animals, scenes appear before him: the affectionate romance of a pair of frogs, a monkey-priest showing off his power with a vixen at his side, and a quarrel between frogs and monkeys.
This dance drama brings to life anthropomorphized animals, inspired by the famous National Treasure 'Chōjū Jinbutsu Giga' ("Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and People"), which remains popular even today. It will be staged as a Kabuki performance for the first time.

SOGA MOYŌ TATESHI NO GOSHOZOME
Gosho no Gorozō

['The Gallant's Kimono Dyed with the Soga Design']

CAST :

Gosho no Gorozō

Kataoka Ainosuke

Hoshikage Doemon

Onoe Shōroku

Ōshū, a courtesan

Nakamura Yonekichi

Satsuki, a courtesan

Nakamura Tokizō

Kabutoya Yogorō

Matsumoto Kōshirō

STORY :

This is a 'sewamono', a play portraying in a realistic way the lives of people in the Edo Period. This play is set in the Gojōzaka pleasure quarter at its time of greatest splendor. Rival gangs dressed in the height of fashion exchange stately speeches before fighting, speaking lines in the elaborate poetic cadences of Kawatake Mokuami, the last great playwright of classical kabuki. Gorozō is the handsome leader of a gang, but his lover, the top courtesan Satsuki pretends to reject him to save his life. Tragedy strikes when Gorozō is driven to revenge...

ATARU TOSHI IWAU HARUKOMA

['The Soga Brothers with Hobbyhorses']

CAST :

Kudō Saemon Suketsune

Nakamura Karoku

Soga no Gorō Tokimune

Nakamura Mantarō

Soga no Jūrō Sukenari

Nakamura Hashinosuke

Kobayashi no Asahina

Nakamura Toranosuke

Ōiso no Tora

Nakamura Yonekichi

STORY :

'Harukoma' is a performance by street entertainers who would go from door to door holding wooden horses' heads to celebrate the New Year. The Soga brothers, Jūrō and Gorō, disguise themselves as such entertainers and break into the mansion of Kudō Suketsune to avenge their father's death.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Maku wo Shimeru na

['Kabuki Show must go on']

CAST :

Hanagiri Fuyugorō, a Kabuki playwright

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Fujikawa Hanzō, the theatre proprietor

Kataoka Ainosuke

Yamamoto Koheiji

Nakamura Shidō

Ohisa, a prostitute of the Aburaya

Bandō Shingo

Asao Amatarō

Nakamura Fukunosuke

Ichiyama Akafuku

Nakamura Utanosuke

Shinozuka Isuzu

Nakamura Kangyoku

Sakata Torao / Hanagiri Bankichi, an apprentice Kabuki playwright

Ichikawa Somegorō

Giemon, a stagehand

Anan Kenji

Genpuku, a boneetter

Asano Kazuyuki

Sakakiyama Ayame

Ichikawa Komazō

Takeshima Isegiku

Bandō Yajūrō

Arashi Mihoemon, the greenroom manager

Nakamura Ganjirō

Kanō Kotozaemon

Matsumoto Hakuō

STORY :

At the Hōraiza Theatre in Ise, playwright Hanagiri Tōgorō and theater manager Fujikawa Hanzō plan to stage the popular puppet play, ‘Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura’ as a Kabuki play, with Yamamoto Koheiji in the starring role. But their efforts to mount the production soon spark a major commotion… This play is based on 'The Show Must Go On': 'Maku o Oro-su na' ("Don't Drop the Curtain"), a legendary comedy originally written and staged by playwright Mitani Kōki for his own company, Tokyo Sunshine Boys. Celebrated as a masterpiece depicting the backstage world of the theatre, the work has been repeatedly revived to great acclaim. Now it is being newly presented as Kabuki. Audiences can look forward to Mitani’s unique brand of laughter and the unpredictable twists that unfold both onstage and behind the scenes, brought to life by a cast of colourful characters.