Osaka Shochikuza TheatreOsaka Shochikuza Theatre
July Program at the Osaka Shochikuza Theatre
Daily: Jul 03 (Wed) - Jul 26 (Fri), 2024
Matinee:11:00 AM
Evening Show: 4:00 PM
*No performances on the 10th (Wed) and the 18th (Thu).
On sale: from Jun 07 (Fri), 2024 10:00 AM(JST)
First Class : 18,000 /Second Class : 9,000 /Third Class : 5,000
Unit: Japanese Yen (tax included)
*Children over the age of 4 must purchase tickets to enter.
Osaka Shochikuza Theatre (at OSAKA) Theatre Information
- About "Try Kabuki Ticket"
*Tickets for dates shown as "Sold Out" or for other preferred seating areas, may still be available from the promoter, Shochiku Co., Ltd. Please confirm the availability by phone or stop by the Box Office.
*Simplified English Audio Guide available (1,000 yen, cash only; brief description and synopsis only).
*Free English flyer/Sold program (Detailed English synopses are found at the end of the Japanese program) available.
The annual July kabuki program at the Osaka Shochikuza Theatre presents a wide variety of genres, with a splendid line-up of performers.
The Matinee program begins with a Kamigata kyōgen play from the Kansai area, full of emotion and comedy, followed by two dance pieces and a play about the tragedy of a mother and child who are separated.
In the Evening Show, we will present the third act of "YOSHITUNE SENBON ZAKURA", one of the three great masterpieces of kabuki. After an elegant and dignified dance in which the female character describes her unfulfilled love in a charming way, the program ends with a performance featuring a famous monologue by an onnagata (female role actor).
The last two performances each in the Matinee and the Evening Shows will commemorate the Name Succession of Nakamura Manju I and Nakamura Tokizō VI. Please enjoy the performances and celebrate their great artistic achievements under their new names.
Osaka Shochikuza Theatre Stage Photo
KOSAN KINGORO
['Kingorō and the Geisha Kosan']
CAST :
- Kanayabashi no Kingorō
- Nakamura Ganjirō
- Gaku no Kosan, a geisha
- Kataoka Takatarō
- Oito of the Ōmuraya, a geisha
- Nakamura Kazutarō
- Mutsuhachi, a jester, in reality, Kizuya Rokusaburō
- Nakamura Hayato
- Hiroseya Shinjūrō
- Bandō Yajūrō
- Otsuru, a female hairdresser
- Nakamura Senjaku
STORY :
This is a rare revival of a play about the actor Kanaya Kingorō, who became famous for his love affair with the courtesan Kosan in the early Edo period. Their story inspired all sorts of plays. In this particular one, Kingorō is a barber and Kosan is a courtesan. They do not know each other, but get involved in helping a loving couple to be united by struggling to get a precious tea caddy which has been pawned for fifty gold coins. When they are successful, they gradually learn that they encountered each other five years before on a boat, fell in love, but parted without knowing the other's identity. Kingorō and Kosan are happily reunited.
Intermission: 30 minutes
FUJI MUSUME
NIWAKA JISHI
['The Wisteria Maiden']
['Impromptu Comic Lion Dance']
CAST :
- The spirit of wisteria
- Onoe Kikunosuke
- A geisha
- Nakamura Tokizō VI, changing his name from Nakamura Baishi IV
- The head of a firefighting brigade
- Nakamura Hayato
- The head of a firefighting brigade
- Nakamura Mantarō
<FUJI MUSUME>
<NIWAKA JISHI>
STORY :
FUJI MUSUME ['The Wisteria Maiden']
A beautiful maiden in a black lacquered hat, holding a branch of wisteria flowers over her shoulder, stands under wisteria flowers that hang from a big pine tree. She is, in reality, the spirit of the wisteria plant. In dance, she expresses the feelings of a woman in love. Then, she compares the man she likes to a pine tree, and becomes slightly intoxicated from drinking saké. Finally, evening approaches and she must depart.
NIWAKA JISHI ['Impromptu Comic Lion Dance']
From the late Edo to the Meiji periods, an event called 'Niwaka' took place in September in the pleasure quarters where geishas and jesters performed improvised dances. This is a lively dance which might be performed at such a time, evoking the atmosphere of an Edo period festival. The highlight of the piece is the lion dance performed by two handsome young men of the neighborhood.
Intermission: 25 minutes
KOINYŌBŌ SOMEWAKE TAZUNA
Shigenoi
['Shigenoi's Parting from her Son' from 'The Colored Reins of a Loving Wife']
CAST :
- Shigenoi, the princess' wet nurse
- Nakamura Manju I, changing his name from Nakamura Tokizō V
- Jinenjo no Sankichi
- Nakamura Baishi V, making his stage debut
- Bungoza, an attendant
- Nakamura Kashō
- Gengoza, an attendant
- Nakamura Hayato
- Kumonoi, the chief lady-in-waiting
- Kamimura Kichiya
- Wakana, a lady-in-waiting
- Nakamura Senjaku
- Honda Yasōzaemon
- Nakamura Karoku
STORY :
Princess Shirabe, the daughter of the Yurugi clan, is to marry the lord of the Iruma clan's son and is preparing for the journey to Edo. However, the immature princess dislikes travelling, so that her wet nurse Shigenoi and Honda Yasōzaemon, the chief retainer of the Iruma clan, are annoyed. Eventually, they call in a packhorse driver by the name of Jinenjo no Sankichi who is in front of the gate of the mansion. As he plays a board game that features travelling around Japan with the princess, the princess gradually changes her mind about her journey, until the time for her departure has come. As Shigenoi is impressed by his services and is about to reward him, Sankichi clings to her, calling out, 'Mother', and …
4:00 PM - 4:50 PM
(Intermission: 10 minutes)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
YOSHITSUNE SENBON ZAKURA
Konomi, Kokingo Uchijini and Sushiya
['Chestnuts', 'The Death of Kokingo' and 'The Sushi Shop' from 'Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees']
CAST :
- Igami no Gonta
- Kataoka Nizaemon
- Yasuke, in reality, Taira no Koremori
- Nakamura Manju I, changing his name from Nakamura Tokizō V
- Wakaba no Naishi
- Kataoka Takatarō
- Shume no Kokingo
- Nakamura Kashō
- Osato, Yazaemon's daughter
- Nakamura Kazutarō
- Kosen, Gonta's wife
- Kamimura Kichiya
- Kajiwara Heizō Kagetoki
- Bandō Yajūrō
- Yazaemon, owner of the sushi shop
- Nakamura Karoku
STORY :
Konomi ['Chestnuts']
Kokingo Uchijini ['The Death of Kokingo']
Wakaba no Naishi, the wife of the Heike commander Koremori, travels with her young son and their retainer Kokingo, searching for her husband. After the war against the Genji, Koremori is now on the run. While resting at a small teahouse, they are met by Gonta, a local bully, who skillfully swindles them out of their money. Later, they are set upon by Genji forces and in a spectacular fight scene, Kokingo sacrifices himself to save his mistress and her son.
Sushiya ['The Sushi Shop']
With his clan defeated, Koremori now lives with Yazaemon's family disguised as Yasuke, a humble apprentice. Yazaemon runs a sushi shop, and owes Koremori's father Taira no Shigemori a debt of gratitude. As it happens, Yazaemon is also Gonta's father. Not knowing Yasuke's true background, nor that he already has a wife and child, Yazaemon's daughter innocently falls in love with Yasuke. One day, Gonta comes to the house. A short while later, Koremori's wife and child also appear miraculously at the sushi shop searching for a place to spend the night. Finding out that Yasuke is actually Koremori and knowing of the bounty on his head, Gonta hands his head, together with Koremori's wife and son, over to the Genji commander. Furious at his son, Yazaemon stabs him. Before he dies, however, Gonta reveals that he only pretended to kill Koremori. In fact, he sacrificed his own wife and son to save the real Koremori and his family.
Intermission: 30 minutes
SHIOKUMI
['Scooping Up Seawater']
CAST :
- Mirume, a woman diver
- Nakamura Senjaku
- Konobē
- Nakamura Mantarō
STORY :
One of the most familiar plays of the classical Nō theatre is "Matsukaze", about the two sisters Matsukaze and Murasame, humble fisher girls who become lovers of an imperial court aristocrat exiled to their village. When the aristocrat returns to the imperial capital, Matsukaze is driven mad with longing. In this dance, a woman diver Mirume comes to the shore and dances thinking of her love as she sees the moon reflected on the seawater in her pails. This dance distills the elegance of the Nō play in the first section and then accentuates Mirume's passion through her encounter with Konobē, a lustful fisherman.
Intermission: 20 minutes
YAEGIRI KURUWA BANASHI
Komochi Yamanba
['Yaegiri's Talk about the Pleasure Quarters' commonly known as 'The Pregnant Mountain Ogress']
CAST :
- Yaegiri, a former courtesan of the Oginoya
- Nakamura Tokizō VI, changing his name from Nakamura Baishi IV
- Genshichi, a tobacconist, in reality, Sakata Tokiyuki
- Onoe Kikunosuke
- Outa, a lady-in-waiting
- Nakamura Mantarō
- Princess Omodaka
- Nakamura Kazutarō
- Shiragiku
- Kataoka Takatarō
- Ōta Jūrō
- Nakamura Ganjirō
STORY :
This play was originally written by the famous playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and first performed in 1712 as a puppet drama which was later adapted for kabuki. The scene is set in the mansion of the aristocrat Iwakura Kanefuyu. Genshichi, a tobacco peddler, is playing the shamisen in front of Kanefuyu's daughter Omodaka, when Oginoya Yaegiri, formerly a courtesan, passes by. Hearing a tune which only she and her missing husband know, Yaegiri makes the distinctive sales cry of a writer of love letters and is let in. As she suspected, Genshichi is actually her husband Sakata Tokiyuki. Angry at the unexpected appearance of her husband who went out to avenge his father, she describes fluently her first meeting with Tokiyuki and about the quarrel over him in the pleasure quarters. Left alone with her, and hearing that his sister avenged his father, he kills himself out of shame over his powerlessness. As he dies, he lodges his spirit in Yaegiri, and this gives her divine power. She becomes a woman of unparalleled strength who drives away the enemy marching against her.