Series
Figures of Modern Stage
Series Number
11
Title in English
Figures of Modern Stage #11 – Hanayagi Shotaro in the role of Taki no Shiraito
Title in Japanese
現代舞台藝蕐(11) 瀧の白糸 花柳章太郎
Gendai Butai Geika 11 – Taki no Shiraito Hanayagi Shotaro
Title in French
Portraits de la scène moderne No.11 – Hanayagi Shotaro dans le role de Taki no Shiraito
The play
The play Taki no Shiraito (The White Thread of the Waterfall or The Water Magician) is based on a short story by Izumi Kyoka (1873-1939) Giketsu Kyōketsu (義 血 侠 血) (The Righteous and the Chivalrous) written in 1894, adapted for cinema by Mizoguchi Kenji in 1933 and again by Kimura Keigo in 1946 (with Mizutani Yaeko I in the lead role), then for kabuki in the 1950s.
The kabuki adaptation belongs to the Shinpa (New School) movement, a modern, more naturalistic version of kabuki that was in vogue in the late Meiji era (1868-1912). Shinpa is a very melodramatic, sentimental form of kabuki with tragic endings where some roles are played by women and onnagata (male actor playing a female role). This genre is in decline now and is only played in Tokyo today.
The story
Additional information
| Publish Date | 1955 |
|---|---|
| First Edition Size | 100 |
| Format | Oban |
| Publisher | Banchoro |
| Carver | Ito Susumu (1916-1998) |
| Printer | Ito Harutaro |
| Actor | Hanayagi Shotaro |
