Synopsis and Impressions of "Shakespeare in Tempo XII" directed by Yukio Ninagawa - Enjoy the masterpiece by Hisashi Inoue in Ninagawa's world!
Introduced here is a DVD of "Shakespeare in Tempo XII," which was performed in 2005 under the direction of Yukio Ninagawa. Let's take a quick look at this production.
Fall 2005, Theatre CocoonArtistic Director Yukio NinagawaThe show premiered in 1974 under the direction ofHisashi InoueThe famous masterpiece of theShakespeare in Tempo XII."will be staged. This production was created "with Kotryo Takarai's "Tenpo Suikoden" and other chivalric dramas as its father and all of Shakespeare's works as its mother". It is a complex and exquisitely woven masterpiece, and it is a work that Yukio Ninagawa, who has directed numerous Shakespearean productions to worldwide acclaim, should one day take up as a challenge. Yukio Ninagawa, who will celebrate his 70th birthday during the performance of this work, and Theater Cocoon will fight together.NINAGAWA VS COCOONAs the final show of the series, it will be grandly and spectacularly presented by an all-star cast! Please stay tuned. BunkamuraPerformance page.
summary
The time is Tempo, in the village of Kiyotaki in Shimousa Province. Jubei Amberjack, who runs two inns and a gambling house in the village, is thinking of sharing his wealth with his three daughters and living a carefree life in retirement. He calls his three daughters and asks them, "How much will you take care of me in the future?" and distribute the property accordingly. The eldest daughter "Ofumi" and the second daughter "Osato" are good talkers, while the third daughter "Omitsu" is ridiculously honest. Omitsu's inability to flatter her father puts him in a bad mood, and he finally throws her out of the house.Thus, Obun and Osato have successfully acquired their father's property. However, the greedy duo are not satisfied with just that, and in order to keep all of the property for themselves, they begin a bitter feud with their respective husbands as their bosses. The village of Kiyotaki is a whirlwind of dangerous schemes. Suddenly, an absconding man named "Sanseiji of Sado" appears. He is crippled and has a hump on his back. He tries to take advantage of the rivalry between the two families and rise to become the leader of Kiyotaki Village. On the other hand, Ofumi's son, Kijiroshi no Oji, rushes to Kiyotaki Village upon hearing the news of his father's death. ...... A new story created by the brilliant intertwining of "King Lear," "Richard III," "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet,"...... Shakespeare's masterpieces! What will be the outcome of this conflict? ......
I picked up this piece earlier in this blog.Mousasi."was the catalyst.
Musashi" is another production in which Hisashi Inoue and Yukio Ninagawa teamed up. I enjoyed this play so much that I decided to read the play "Shakespeare in Tempo 12" as well.
This work begins with the words, "I dedicate this play to Kotryo Takarai and Shakespeare. I dedicate this play to Kotryo Takarai and Shakespeare, for this play was born with Kotryo Takarai's "Tenpou Suikoden" and other chivalrous men's stories as its father and all of Shakespeare's works as its mother. As the author, Hisashi Inoue, states, "This is a marvelous play that is written using all of Shakespeare's works as material.
When you actually read the book, you can't help but be surprised by the "Oh! When you actually read the book, you can't help but be surprised by the parodies and homages that keep popping up. It is amazing that not only the plot of the stage but also the names of the characters appear in the book!
For example, but Jubei the amberjack is "Britten'sKing Lear', the makubei of Oze said.othello (Othello camelopardalis)(at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusionMacbeth", Sado's Sanseiji said.Richard IIIAnd I was most impressed by the "Yodare-gyu no monta family" and the "Daikan-tedai no hanahira family". Yes, that's right! This isRomeo and JulietThis is a pun on the "Montague family" and the "Capillet family" of the "Montague family". I laughed at this one. It's too brilliant! LOL!
I was amazed at how they were able to connect so much of the storyline. This is a must-see for Shakespeare lovers.
What in the world would happen if this were put on stage? Curious, I picked up a DVD of the play directed by Ninagawa.
The stage critic Akihiko Ogita had the following to say about this stage.
A musical drama overflowing with vulgarity, obscenity, and chaotic energy has appeared. The play was directed at the Theatre Cocoon by Yukio Ninagawa, who reached his 70th birthday in October 2005, and was a major work written by Hisashi Inoue and set to music by Ryudo Uzaki.
The play is set in an inn in Shimofusa Province during the Edo period, and was written with the intention of incorporating all of the elements of Shakespeare's 37 plays. The first performance was in 1974 at the Seibu Theatre (now the Parco Theatre). It was directed by Norio Deguchi with music by Seiichiro Uno. The play was so long and included so many songs that, as I recall, the running time on the first day exceeded four and a half hours (about five hours according to the author, Hisashi Inoue). In 2002, the play was performed again under the direction of Hidenori Inoue as part of a production sponsored by the Japan Council of Theatre Companies.
This Ninagawa-directed play also attracted attention for the glamour of its cast. The cast included Toshiaki Karasawa, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ryoko Shinohara, Mari Natsuki, Keiko Takahashi, Masanobu Katsumura, Yuko Maritani, Kotaro Yoshida, Tokuma Nishioka, Kayoko Shiraishi, and Ryuji Sawa (......).
The opening of the production was a surprise. The stage and balcony were set up to resemble the Globe Theatre in London, which was rebuilt in 1997 and is a hall of fame for Shakespeare's plays, with actors in Western-style costumes coming and going.
What is this supposed to be an Edo period play?" I was suspicious, but soon peasants in pure Japanese style carrying manure buckets came up from the audience seats to the stage and quickly dismantled the Western-style stage set-up. As a result, what appears on the stage is an inn apparatus that looks Japanese as a whole, while retaining some of the pillars and other elements of the Globe Theatre. The device (Tsukasa Nakagoshi) skillfully embodied the spirit of Inoue's play, which is both an adaptation of Shakespeare's work and a deconstruction play.
The newly composed music by Ryudo Uzaki, who has worked with Ninagawa many times, was brilliant. The entire piece has a pop, comedic vibrancy and a clear melody that leaves a lasting impression.
The tunes were also varied. There were songs in the style of old-time kuchkun-roll sung by Mari Natsuki and Haruhiko Yorio, a folk song-like tune sung solo by Toshiaki Karasawa, a tango sung by Natsuki and Keiko Takahashi, who played bad girls, a bossa nova style sung by a group of peasants playing cholos, a song sung by Tatsuya Fujiwara with indecent actions in a dialogue with the female actors, a romantic love song sung by Ryoko Shinohara, a former singer, and others. The audience enjoyed the individual song styles, such as romantic love songs. The songs in the play were so well written that the play was more of a music play than a play with songs. The use of an electronic display to show the lyrics of the songs, which are often a play on words, was also very effective. I was never bored and did not think the four-hour performance time was too long.
This work has a kind of carnival-like vitality, but in the latter half of the piece, the eerie black laughter increases and the characters die in a flurry of deaths. At the time of the premiere, Hisashi Inoue was angered by "the times when people have to die one after another without any reason" (Inoue's statement in the pamphlet for the premiere) due to pollution and other causes, and wrote this work in "red ink that resembles the color of blood. Ninagawa's production was a fitting revival at the beginning of the 21st century, when such a sense of absurdity is becoming increasingly prevalent around the world. (Musical, November 2005 issue)
Asahi Shimbun Publications, Akihiko Ogita, The Dramatic World of Yukio Ninagawa, p. 319-320.
A musical drama "vulgar, obscene, chaotic, and full of energy."
This DVD is a perfect example of the essence of Ninagawa's direction. I believe that this production is the one that most clearly expresses Ninagawa's characteristics.
And the cast is still overwhelmingly gorgeous. Everywhere I went, I saw more and more actors in leading roles on this stage. I couldn't help but be stunned by the power of the performances. It was too much!
Ougita-san describes elsewhere the characteristics of Ninagawa's theater as follows. This is a tremendous reference, so let's read it.
There seems to be one key word that allows us to understand the nature and position of Ninagawa's productions. That is Ninagawa's inclination toward Shakespearean drama.
As noted in the essay at the beginning of this book, Ninagawa has directed the largest number of Shakespeare plays to date. As of March 2010, he has directed eighteen productions. If the productions he has staged in new productions are counted as one of them, Ninagawa has directed a total of 31 Shakespeare productions.
The significance of this fact is great. For it is the excessive energy and tremendous richness of Shakespeare's plays, which modern theater has lost sight of, that Ninagawa seeks in theater and seeks to realize as expression.
As is well known, Shakespeare's plays during his lifetime were performed for a wide range of audiences, from the aristocracy and the intelligentsia to the common people at the bottom. The plays were surprisingly broad in scope, satisfying both the intellectual elite and the entertainment-seeking masses. It was a play that did not subdivide the theater, but was a play where intellectual experimentation and popular entertainment coexisted. The director, Peter Brook.Nothing but space.As I wrote in "Shakespeare's plays contain both Brecht and Beckett, and yet exceed both of them" (Yasuya Takahashi and Tetsuo Kishi in translation, published by Shobunsha).
This is why Yukio Ninagawa likes to direct Shakespeare's plays. And while he may give them intellectual interpretation and visual flair, he does not create plays for the intellectually elite, but rather a wide-ranging, entertaining stage that can be enjoyed by a wide audience. Like Shakespeare's plays, Ninagawa's productions transcend conventional boundaries.
Asahi Shimbun Publications, Akihiko Ogita, The Dramatic World of Yukio Ninagawa, p. 362-363.
While he puts intellectual interpretation and visual flair to his work, he does not create a stage for the intellectually elite, but rather a wide-ranging, entertaining stage that can be enjoyed by a wide audience."
It is precisely because Ninagawa has worked on so many Shakespeare plays that he is able to create "Shakespeare in Tempo XII".
Gorgeous cast, rich music, stimulating visuals, and excessive energy.
The wonderful thing about this stage is that you can experience all of this. This is the best way to get a feel for Ninagawa's style.
It is a wonderful work that shows the greatness of the actors and the fun of theater. It is true that the time flies by. It is a very entertaining and entertaining work.
We encourage everyone to watch the play on DVD.
That's all for "Synopsis and Impressions of Yukio Ninagawa's "Shakespeare in Tempo XII" - Enjoy the Masterpiece by Hisashi Inoue in Ninagawa's World! That's all for now.
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