Misplaced Pages

#188811

24-470: Major figures in the Angura movement included Shūji Terayama , Jūrō Kara , Makoto Satō , Minoru Betsuyaku , Yoshiyuki Fukuda , and Tadashi Suzuki . Renowned graphic artist Yokoo Tadanori produced numerous promotional artworks for Angura productions, and helped co-found the Angura theater troupe Tenjō Sajiki . Angura emerged in the early 1960s, in reaction to the structural and ideological constraints of

48-696: A large collection of his plays, novels, poetry, photography and a great number of his personal effects and relics from his theatre productions, can also be found in Misawa. With the Tenjo Sajiki Troupe, Terayama directed two plays at the Shiraz Arts Festival, "Origin of Blood", in 1973 and "Ship of Folly", in 1976. In 1976, he was a member of the jury at the 26th Berlin International Film Festival . In 1997,

72-543: A motherless child). In March 2012, Tate Modern in London hosted a tribute to Terayama that was attended by Kyōko Kujō and Terayama's assistant director, Henrikku Morisaki. His oeuvre is well known for its experimentalism and includes but is not limited to: Makoto Sat%C5%8D (theater) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

96-682: A musical troupe nicknamed "Dark Takarazuka" for its female-focused cast and Angura versions of Takarazuka -style musical productions, and Theater Laboratory Universal Gravitational Force , founded by members of Tenjō Sajiki after the death of Shūji Terayama in 1983. Sh%C5%ABji Terayama Shūji Terayama ( 寺山 修司 , Terayama Shūji , December 10, 1935 – May 4, 1983) was a Japanese avant-garde poet, artist, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. His works range from radio drama, experimental television, underground ( Angura ) theatre, countercultural essays, to Japanese New Wave and "expanded" cinema. Many critics view him as one of

120-596: A number of essays claiming that more can be learned about life through boxing and horse racing than by attending school and studying hard. Accordingly, he was one of the central figures of the "runaway" movement in Japan in the late 1960s, as depicted in his book, play, and film Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets! ( 書を捨てよ、町へ出よう ). In 1967, Terayama formed the Tenjō Sajiki theater troupe, whose name comes from

144-600: The 1920s, Shingeki fell under the influence of the left-leaning Proletarian Arts Movement in Japan and was suppressed by the militarist regime during World War II . After the war, the Shingeki movement fell strongly under the influence of the Japan Communist Party (JCP), and became increasingly dependent on attendance by JCP-affiliated labor unions to sell tickets and fill seats. This meant that Shingeki productions had to conform to Communist Party ideology and

168-723: The 1950s, the radicalizing experience of the Anpo Protests helped convince many younger Shingeki members to break away and found their own theater troupes, where they could experiment with much more radical forms of theater. One of the earliest new troupes to break away was the Seinen Geijutsu Gekijō ("Youth Art Theater"), abbreviated Seigei, founded by 20 members of the third graduating class of Mingei's training program, several of whom had been denied jobs, as well as playwright Yoshiyuki Fukuda , noh actor Hideo Kanze , and composer Hikaru Hayashi . Immediately following

192-763: The 1960s. Kara would go on to found the Situation Theater , also known as the "Red Tent Theater" because they performed in a red tent, and Satō would go on to form the Black Tent Theater , which performed in a black tent. Betsuyaku helped co-found the Waseda Little Theater with Tadashi Suzuki . Other influential Angura troupes included Shūji Terayama 's Tenjō Sajiki , Kazuyoshi Kushida 's Free Theater , Yukio Ninagawa 's Contemporary Theater , and Shogo Ōta 's Transformation Theater . Angura troupes and playwrights sought to challenge

216-414: The Anpo Protests, Seigei staged its first production, which included a play written by Fukuda called Record Number 1 , which is often cited as the first Angura-style play. Record Number 1 was extremely unorthodox and experimental, blurring the lines between reality and play and breaking the fourth wall . In this play, the actors of Seigei expressed their emotions and frustration around their experiences in

240-498: The Japanese modern theater movement known as Shingeki (literally, "new theater"). Shingeki itself had developed in the early years of the 20th century in response to the perceived "irrationality" of premodern forms of Japanese theater, such kabuki and noh . As a result, Shingeki theater troupes sought to present Western-style productions in modern, Western-style theaters with realistic sets, costumes, dialogues, and situations. In

264-716: The Japanese translation of the 1945 Marcel Carné film Les Enfants du Paradis and literally translates to "ceiling gallery" (with a meaning similar to the English term " peanut gallery "). The troupe was dedicated to the avant-garde and staged a number of controversial plays tackling social issues from an iconoclastic perspective in unconventional venues, such the streets of Tokyo or private homes. Some major plays include "Bluebeard" ( 青ひげ ), "Yes" ( イエス ), and "The Crime of Fatso Oyama" ( 大山デブコの犯罪 ). Many influential artists were frequent collaborators or members of Tenjō Sajiki. Artists Aquirax Uno and Tadanori Yokoo designed many of

SECTION 10

#1732791424189

288-605: The Shuji Terayama Museum was opened in Misawa, Aomori , with personal items donated by his mother, Hatsu. The museum was designed by visual artist Kiyoshi Awazu , who had previously collaborated with Terayama. As of 2015, the museum's director is poet Eimei Sasaki, who had previously starred in Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1968). Asahi Shimbun named an award after Terayama with

312-463: The advertisement posters for the group. Musically, Terayama worked closely with experimental composer J.A. Seazer and folk musician Kan Mikami . Fellow Waseda University alumnus Kohei Ando collaborated with Terayama as a Production Assistant. Sci-fi author Izumi Suzuki acted in Tenjō Sajiki productions, and the troupe staged some of Suzuki's own plays. Playwright Rio Kishida was also part of

336-653: The artistic direction of the troupe. In some cases, recruits completed the entire training program, but were then not even offered a job with the troupe. In 1960, virtually the entire Shingeki community was mobilized to battle against revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (known as "Anpo" in Japanese), under the auspices of an umbrella organization called the Shingeki Workers Association (新劇人会議 Shingekijin Kaigi ). However, many younger members of

360-861: The city of Misawa , also in Aomori. Terayama lived through the Aomori air raids that killed more than 30,000 people. His father died at the end of the Pacific War in Indonesia in September 1945. Terayama entered Aomori High School in 1951 and, in 1954, he enrolled in Waseda University 's Faculty of Education to study Japanese language and literature. However, he soon dropped out because he fell ill with nephrotic syndrome . He received his education through working in bars in Shinjuku . By 18, he

384-432: The company. She viewed Terayama as a mentor, and together they collaborated on Shintokumaru ( Poison Boy ), The Audience Seats , and Lemmings . Terayama experimented with 'city plays', a fantastical satire of civic life. Also in 1967, Terayama started an experimental cinema and gallery called 'Universal Gravitation,' which is still in existence at Misawa as a resource center. The Terayama Shūji Memorial Hall, which has

408-627: The conservative Shingeki modern theater orthodoxy in every way possible. To this end, they staged wild, raucous productions in unconventional venues, outdoors, or in tents, featuring non-linear plots, frequent breaking of the fourth wall and direct interaction with audiences, bizarre costumes and makeup, intensely emotional outbursts by characters, and fantastic and phantasmagorical elements. In contrast to Shingeki productions, Angura made extensive use of music and actively sought to evoke audience laughter or even anger or shock. Major emphases of Angura productions included intense physicality, overt sexuality, and

432-413: The conservative tastes of the labor unionist attendees. Another issue was the pyramidal structure of the most prestigious Shingeki troupes. Leading Shingeki troupes such as Bungaku-za , Haiyū-za , and Gekidan Mingei recruited members out of leading Japanese universities and put them through rigorous training programs, but then made them wait years or even decades to have starring roles or any input into

456-445: The inauguration of their Asahi Performing Arts Awards in 2001. "The Terayama Shūji Prize is meant to recognize artistic innovation by individuals or organizations who have demonstrated artistic innovation". However, the awards were suspended in 2008. Terayama wrote lyrics to many songs that became generational hits, including Maki Asakawa's Kamome (Seagull) and Carmen Maki 's Toki ni wa haha no nai ko no you ni (Sometimes like

480-465: The most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He has been cited as an influence on various Japanese filmmakers from the 1970s onward. Terayama was born December 10, 1935, in Hirosaki , Aomori , the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama. When Terayama was nine, his mother moved to Kyūshū to work at an American military base, while he himself went to live with relatives in

504-490: The recently concluded Anpo protests. Historian of Japanese theater David G. Goodman has called Record Number 1 “a pivotal moment in the history of the modern Japanese theater movement,” one that “challenged every aspect of the Shingeki orthodoxy.” A large number of Angura directors and playwrights worked with Seigei and Fukuda in the early 1960s, including Jūrō Kara , Makoto Satō , and Minoru Betsuyaku . They then went on to found their own experimental theater troupes later in

SECTION 20

#1732791424189

528-762: The troupes, who tended to sympathize with the student radicals in the Zengakuren student federation, were extremely disappointed that the Shingeki Association enforced strict conformity to the passive and ineffectual protest policies of the Japan Communist Party, even after right-wing counter-protester brutally attacked the Shingeki members during a protest march at the National Diet on June 15, 1960, resulting in 80 members being injured. Although discontent had been building throughout

552-606: The use of fantasy or "primitive" motifs. In these ways, Angura had much in common with Butoh dance, which emerged around the same time, and helped pave the way for the emergence of Pink film in Japan. The Angura theater movement remains active to this day (as does Shingeki). Major Angura troupes active at the present time include Jūrō Kara's Kara Group (renamed from "Situation Theater"), Tadashi Suzuki's Suzuki Company of Toga (aka SCOT, renamed from "Waseda Little Theater"), Yukichi Matsumoto 's Osaka -based Ishinha ("Revolution School") company, Ei Takatori 's Gesshoku Opera Company ,

576-584: Was the second winner of the Tanka Studies Award. He married Kyōko Kujō ( 九條今日子 ) on April 2, 1963: they would later co-found the Tenjō Sajiki theatre troupe. Kujō later began an extramarital affair with fellow co-founder Yutaka Higashi. She and Terayama formally divorced in December 1970, although they continued to work together until Terayama's death on May 4, 1983, from cirrhosis of the liver. Kujō died on April 30, 2014. His oeuvre includes

#188811