- A look back: 杉本文楽「曽根崎心中」(Sugimoto Bunraku “Sonezaki Shinju”) ,
The huge popularity of Sonezaki Shinju (Love Suicide at Sonezaki) among Japanese Bunraku fans is in fact a recent phenomenon. It was a massive hit in its debut in 1703, famously rescuing its theater from bankruptcy, but fell out of favor for many years following a ban by concerned authorities on shows thought to glorify double suicides. A sensational revival of the Kabuki adaptation in 1953 that presented the lead female in a stronger light led to newfound interest in the Bunraku original, which was revived to great success in 1955. Its fame since has never waned.
With the Sugimoto Bunraku production of Sonezaki Shinju (Love Suicide at Sonezaki) soon to open in New York, I looked back and realized that I had never printed my review of the original production from August 2011 in Yokohama. So here it is below. (Also, here’s a look at Sugimoto’s production of another Bunraku classic in 2017.)
sekenbanashi 