Jap Theatre essay
Essay Question: How do we equate the dark and serious theatre of the 1960s in Japan with the lighter, fluffy theatre of the 1990s? Is this a fair description of both theatres? Are they part of the same movement? Are they simply a mirror to contemporary Japanese society?Shogeki-Jo, the little theatre movement of the 1960s, also called the underground (angura) theatre has formed the basis of contemporary theatre in Japan. This theatre developed in a spirit of revolt against the post war Japanese mainstream. The first generation artist of angura, such as Terayama Shuji, Suzuki Tadashi and Kara Juro, created a dark world of passions that broke the conventional frame of theatre; the first modern theatre that is uniquely Japanese in aesthetics and practice. In the 1980s and the 90s, as the social conditions in Japan changed drastically, the focus of angura theatre also shifted. It developed mainly in two directions. One is the light, fluffy theatre of Noda Hideki and the quiet theatre of Hirata Oriza, where the radical element of underground theatre has been replaced by normalization and popularization; hence its relation to the original angura impetus becomes uncertain. However, the other strand of the angura development demonstrat
Yet when the society is more stable, i. The theme of dreams resonates throughout the Shogekijo works, as it was a dream for the individual and society to be liberated from conformity and the cultural constructions of power elites. The term "endless present" refers to the normalization of dominant politics where by aesthetic values have been removed from a historical and social political context. An interesting phenomenon becomes apparent as comparisons are drawn between the different theatre styles in Japan through a time span from the 1960s to the 1990s. Although both of these theatres display some traits of its angura lineage, as in performance structure and dramaturgy, the aesthetics and concept behind theatre making has fractured greatly between the two eras of angura theatre. The 1960s in Japan was an era of radical social changes due to the wide spread political movement against the renewal of the USVJapan Security Treaty and student activism on campus. The angura theatre was closely linked to the politics of the left counter culture. Suzuki Tadashi, the founder of the Waseda Shogekijo theatre group, developed what became known as the unique ¥Suzuki method' of physical training, that emphasized the way in which the lower part of the actors body was used, which evolved into a totally original style that emphasis the actor's body on stage. These plays never have a formal beginning and ending, as the plays seem to have a life of its own that goes on in perpetuity. Despite their differences in style and concept, traits of 1960s angura theatre are evident in both of these later developments, as they are indeed all, unique expressions concerning the contemporary Japanese society. We should, however remain critical of the theories of subjectivity and selfhood embodied in the Shogekijo movement as it may sometimes prevail as a mere form of self-essentialism. " Thus Daisan Erotica critically investigates social relationships, proposing Japan as "dystopic rather than utopian, fractured rather than cohesive, violent and coercive rather than safe and free.
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Hasabe Hiroshi,
Waseda Shogekijo,
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Suzuki Kara,
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Dumb Type,
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