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[ú{Ìj] ()(LJapanese TheatreL, by Faubion Bowers, presents a full historical account for Westerners of the theatre arts that have flourished for centuries in Japan. LThis bookL, says Mr. Bowers, Lis a survey of what theatre arts exist there today and how they arose. Because Kabuki is the dominant type of drama in Japan today, and has been for three centuries, I have given most attention to it.L Kabuki, arising in the late seventeenth century, is the theatre of the commoner. The successive syllables of Kabuki mean Lsong-dance-skill.L Kabuki provides a marvellous spectacle in which male actors play female roles and part of the action occurs on a narrow runway that leads across the audience to the stage. LOne thing you mustnLt miss --the Kabuki theatre. ILd love to be there now,L said an American airplane pilot to producer Joshua Logan on his world tour in the 1950Ls-- and many Americans in Japan have felt the same way. LThe Kabuki theatre,L says playwright Paul Green,Lis the true representational theatre art as ILve yearned to see it. What choreography!L And Kabuki costumes are the most lavish in the world. The precursors of Kabuki were the puppet theatre and the comic interludes in the stately, aristocratic Noh drama --all fully described by Mr. Bowers. He also describes the works of the LJapanese Shakespeare,L the playwright Chikamatsu, who wrote for both Kabuki and the puppets. In the modern era the Japanese have broken away from Kabuki, and their stage has shown a realistic trend. Left-wing theatre groups arose in the 1920s, were suppressed by the militarists, and then revived during the occupation. Appended to the historical chapters are Mr. BowerLs translations of three Kabuki plays : The Monstrous Spider, Gappo and His Daughter Tsuji, and the bombastic Sukeroku. This book, with its many excellent photographs, is a permanent addition to the WestLs knowledge of the exotic, exciting theatre of Japan and its tradition of great acting.@Faubion Bowers gained his exhaustive knowledge of the Japanese theatre from residence in Japan, from facility in the Japanese language, and from his official duties as Censor of the Theatre (1947-48) for the occupation government. He went to Japan in 1940 and became an instructor at Hosei University, Tokyo. In 1941 he was inducted into the United States Army as a private, but he was soon commissioned for ability in the Japanese language. He was promoted to major and in 1945 arrived in Japan with the advance party as interpreter. He then became aide to General MacArthur at the American Embassy, Tokyo. Along the way he collected the Bronze Star for performance in the field and the Oak Leaf Cluster. In writing LJapanese TheatreL Mr. Bowers was helped by Japanese scholars and by his acquaintance with many Japanese actors. He also consulted all texts in Japanese he could find that dealt with Kabuki and the other historic forms ; they were mostly out-of-print books and manuscripts. Mr. Bowers was born in Miami, Oklahoma, in 1917, attended the University of Oklahoma and Columbia University, and studied piano with Alfred Cortot in Paris. He has traveled extensively in Asia.@¥CONTENTS : I.Historical Introduction to Japanese Theatre, II.Kabuki --JapanLs Popular Theatre, III.Genroku Theatre, IV.Contribution of Historical Kabuki to Present Day Kabuki, V.The Esthetics of Kabuki, VI.Meiji Era Theatre, VII.The Theatre Today) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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