The Japanese Theatre

by Benito Ortolani

Widely recognized as the standard history of Japanese theatre for Western readers, this work by Benito Ortolani is now available for the first time in paperback. From ancient folk and ritual performances to modern dance theatre, it provides concise summaries about each major theatrical form, situating the genre in its particular social, political, and cultural contexts and integrating a vast array of detail on such topics as staging, costuming, masks and properties, repertory, acting techniques, and noteworthy actors. Complete with illustrations and an extensive bibliography, this book serves undergraduates and specialists both as a reference and as a cultural history of Japan seen from the perspective of the performing arts.Widely recognized as the standard history of Japanese theatre for Western readers, this work by Benito Ortolani is now available for the first time in paperback. From ancient folk and ritual performances to modern dance theatre, it provides concise summaries about each major theatrical form, situating the genre in its particular social, political, and cultural contexts and integrating a vast array of detail on such topics as staging, costuming, masks and properties, repertory, acting techniques, and noteworthy actors. Complete with illustrations and an extensive bibliography, this book serves undergraduates and specialists both as a reference and as a cultural history of Japan seen from the perspective of the performing arts.

Genres: Theatre, Japanese Literature

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[EH-PI · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the many forms of Japanese theatre — from the beginning (Jomon Period -ca 250 B.C.) all the way to contemporary theatre in Shingeki and Shimpa theatre. The section I was most interested in was Kabuki and it gives a good general introduction which includes the origin of kabuki from the shamanistic dance of Okuni. However, this section apparently parrots the oft-cited reputation of kabuki as anti-shogunal and subversive entertainment, when possibly the actual context of the origin and rise and fame of kabuki were more nuanced than that (contrast for example with Edo Kabuki in Transition: From the Worlds of the Samurai to the Vengeful Ghost written by Satoko Shimazaki which portrayed kabuki theatres actually as very much working in tandem with the government in terms of expressive theatre. Still, the kabuki section was thorough in terms of coverage not just of actors famous in kabuki theatre during the Tokugawa period, but also of the music, the styles of acting, the dance, the costumes and make up that constitute the experience of kabuki.