• Bunraku: 曽根崎心中 (Love Suicide at Sonezaki), 9/8/23 (Fri)
• Bunraku: 菅原伝授手習鑑 (Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy), Acts III-V, 9/16/23 (Sat)

This is being billed as the last Bunraku puppet drama in Tokyo’s current money-losing National Theater, which will shut down for reconstruction at the end of next month. The government plans to replace the aging theater, built in the mid 1960s as a showcase for Kabuki, Bunraku and other Japanese traditional performing arts, with a large hotel/retail/theater complex, a PFI project reportedly due to cost some ¥80 billion. However, the plan hit a big speed bump last month when it failed for a second time to attract a single bidder, i.e., private developers see no commercial prospects for a building of this type in that location. Kabuki has consistently failed to draw audiences in recent years, while Bunraku, the theater’s one bright spot, only visits from its Osaka base for 2-3 weeks each quarter, which is insufficient to sustain the property financially. The government has not explained why it thinks that rebuilding the theater in this location will attract Kabuki audiences who aren’t showing up now, and as the project is supposed to take an inordinate 6-7 years to complete, the big question for Bunraku, which will be relegated in the interim to a distant corner of the city, is whether there will be any fans left at that point. This is less death than suicide. (Kabuki is produced elsewhere on a commercial basis and is not dependent on this theater, while the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka is even deeper in the red.)

There are three separate productions this month: the first two were separate acts of the sprawling classic Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy, each lasting nearly 3.5 hours (the full show is well over nine hours), and the final part the two-hour evergreen Love Suicide at Sonezaki. I discovered when I went to pick up my ticket for Part 2 that they offered ¥5,600 discount seats (originally priced at ¥8,000) for non-Japanese visitors after the first hour. I immediately canceled the old reservation and switched to the cheaper seat. It’s a nice idea to offer discount day seats after the show has begun, though limiting that to foreign visitors is going to raise other problems.

Both of the Sugawara shows, which had plenty of available seats online just a few days earlier, were nearly full. The singers were terrific throughout, with the climactic kiri sections handled respectively by the ever-animated Chitosedayu (“Sakuramaru’s Seppuku”) and Rodayu (“The Village School”), and the audience was very responsive with laughs and applause in all the right places. One scene in Part 2 was being performed for the first time in 51 years. It had little to do with the main story, showing Sugawara’s wife hiding in the mountains and her servant’s wife dying in a battle to protect her. I could have done without it, though I’m glad I saw it once. In the play’s rarely performed final scene in the palace, the villain is overcome with the help of lightning bolts, magical snakes in his ears, and a pair of ghosts. That felt like a desperate way to wrap the play up and stood in contrast to the verismo to that point. I did like it when the villain pulls off his henchman’s head and tosses it aside for failing to spot their rival’s deceit. But I’m not generally a big fan of supernatural dei ex maxima, and dramatic modern lighting effects have no place in this Edo-style art. In any case, no complaints about the musicians or puppeteers, who did crack work.

The oft-revived Sonezaki is an apt choice as the closing show given its popularity; it can justly claim to be the single most famous play in the repertory both at home and abroad since its rediscovery in the early 20th century (a modern adaptation played in NY just before the pandemic) and usually sells out as soon as tickets are on sale. This time is different, though: other than the sold-out final performance, there are plenty of open seats throughout the run, including today’s show. I had expected more interest this time with the theater’s imminent closure. It may be a case of Sonezaki fatigue, and the longer morning and matinee shows generally had more seasoned performers, which may have lured the crowds.

As it happens, the performance was a shadow of its usual self, including some limp narrating from younger singers still learning the ropes. While I’m sure they’ll get better with time, I’m not sure why they would be chosen for the NT’s sayonara production. The overall energy level was low. I had expected a more lively sendoff for the occasion.

On the positive side, the production today appears finally to be aimed more at all-around audiences than Bunraku aficionados with its familiar title, shorter running time (though the ticket price is the same), and nighttime start of 7:00pm (instead of the usual 4:30pm), finally making it possible for office workers to attend. That’s a step forward for the conservative Bunraku world, which has until now focused only on its shrinking existing-fan base rather then reaching out to new potential fans. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say they fell short of whatever goal they had given the large number of empty seats.

Still, the crowds for the first two-thirds of the day suggest that Bunraku still has its fans here. It remains to be seen whether they will stay loyal as the main Tokyo venue closes its doors for at least the next seven years and performances shift to a far less convenient spot. With the Osaka home base still bleeding red ink, Bunraku faces a tough road ahead.