• Kabuki: 沓手鳥孤城落月, 漢人韓文手管始  (The Cuckoo, the Solitary Castle and the Sinking Moon; Murder of a Foreign Envoy)

10/17/17 (Tues), Tokyo Kabukiza

The Cuckoo, the Solitary Castle and the Sinking Moon is a piece in the modern Shin Kabuki (New Kabuki) genre by the 20th-century playwright Tsubouchi Shoyo surrounding the historic destruction of Osaka Castle in 1615. Hideyori was supposed to have inherited the mantle of leader after his father’s death but was outwitted by the wily Ieyasu, who is now moving in for the coup de grâce. With the enemy outside the gates, Hideyori’s family and forces debate whether to go down with dignity or run for their lives. The one ace they have is Ieyasu’s granddaughter Princess Sen, who is in a political marriage with Hideyori. They hope that her presence will help waylay an outright massacre by her grandfather. Ieyasu has sent a spy to kidnap her back, but she is being watched vigilantly by Hideyori’s suspicious mother Yodo. The drama concentrates on the emotional toll that the pressure takes on the characters in the besieged castle, most notably a descent by the frantic mother into madness.

The plot was quite straightforward and the motivations of all characters credibly drawn, with the use of actual historical names giving it added veracity. Still, for all its screaming and crying, the story came off more as intellectual than emotional. Tsubouchi was supposedly famous for his translations of Shakespeare, who seems the clear model here. The drama was less about the plot as such than how the characters reacted to events, especially Yodo, whose mad scenes hark directly to Lady Macbeth. The playwright’s rather obscure language makes it difficult to relate to the characters, and the realistic presentation didn’t quite match the outsized emotions, which are so effective in traditional Kabuki. I found it easier to admire the show than enjoy or be moved by it. Tamasaburo was highly effective in the difficult role of Yodo, making the most of his mad scenes in particular, and Shichinosuke, usually a female-role specialist, was surprising and very fine as Hideyori.

As an aside, the random cuckoo in the title is evidently a symbol of melancholy in Japan, a good fit with the isolated castle and sinking moon. It may also refer to the famous story of Japan’s three great warlords faced with a cuckoo who refuses to sing: Nobunaga kills it, Hideyoshi (the father of this play’s Hideyori) coaxes it, and Ieyasu waits patiently for it to sing on its own. That last doesn’t sit well with the portrait here of Ieyasu, who is about to slaughter everyone in the castle, but since the events are twelve years after he took power, I guess he had waited long enough.

Murder of a Foreign Envoy: This was more like it, a typical Kabuki drama from 1789 drawn from an actual incident 25 years earlier. Denshichi has lost a precious spearhead that he was supposed to present on behalf of his lord to a foreign envoy, putting him and his lord at great risk. He asks the help of the delegation’s interpreter Tenzo, who not only agrees to pretend that the spearhead is real but will lend the money to buy out the contract of the lord’s favorite courtesan Meizan. Then we learn the reason for his generosity: he wants Denshichi to hook him up with another courtesan, the beautiful Takao. What he doesn’t know is that Takao happens to be Denshichi’s lover. The desperate Denshichi is shocked but, afraid to disclose this, accepts the condition with no intention of granting it. When Tenzo learns about the relationship, he believes angrily he has been duped. Going back on the deal, he publicly declares the spearhead a fake. Denshichi, humiliated, begs him to reconsider. Events eventually lead him to stab Tenzo to death.

This was an entertaining show with plenty of humor, a clear story (though just one portion of a highly complex plot) and amusing characters. The show is set in Nagasaki rather than the actual murder location of Osaka, presumably to give it more foreign flair. The action takes place largely in a Chinese-style temple with Chinese characters wearing their own distinct costumes. There was some rather un-PC talk of Chinese visitors by the women, which got laughs given the behavior of many Chinese tourists these days (though the lines were really meant to show the women’s unsophisticated nature). An unusual number of exits/entrances took place along the hanamichi in numerous variations, and the revolving stage sped up the action in set changes. The show ends rather abruptly as the previously bumbling Denshichi takes on a new driven personality, marching intensely down the hanamichi to take revenge. I assume that has something to do with the following scenes, not presented today, but it came off as inconsistent. Still, a fun show.

Shikan was excellent as Tenzo in both bashful mode talking with women and his more imperious mode later. Ganjiro and Shichinosuke did their usual good work as Denshichi and Takao. Among the minor roles, Kamezo was hilarious as the envoy; I loved when he laughed ungraciously after stealing Meizan away thanks to his privileged status. The lively plot and exotic costumes made this the best show of the day.