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Footprints of the Giants of "New Play" seen on grapes: "Jiyu Theater", "Tsukiji Small Theater" and "Jiyu Theater" again
I was reading an article online and learned that March 16 was the birthday of the late Keita Asari. Keita Asari is a founding member of the Shiki Theater Company and director who worked on the musical "Cats".
Unfortunately, at present, there is no theater in Chuo-ku, but there are some "indirect" contacts between Mr. and Chuo-ku, so I would like to introduce it this time.
Keita Asari was born in a theater family
There were two great theater officials around Keita Asari.
One is Tsuruo Asari, his father, theatrical producer and actor.
The other is the second generation of Kabuki actor Ichikawa Sadanji. From Keita's point of view, he is the great uncle of paternity. Since there was no child in Sadanji, there was a story that Keita inherited the famous traces of Sadanji, and it is said that he had been at Sadanji's house in childhood.
A great uncle who challenged the new play, the second generation Ichikawa Sadanji
Keita's great uncle, the second generation Ichikawa Sadanji, visited Western Europe in 1906, and was greatly inspired by seeing new production methods and performance methods of theater, and after returning to Japan, he started the "Free Theater" with playwright and director Kaoru Osanai. What was performed at the Jiyu Theater was not classical performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki, but rather a "new drama" that is realistic and emphasizes realism. Jiyu Theater, an intangible theater without a theater or exclusive actor, performed nine performances from Meiji 42 (1909) to Taisho 8 (1919).
His father, Tsuruo Asari, was involved in the establishment of the new theater base Tsukiji Small Theater.
Keita's father, Tsuruo Asari, was the person who founded the Tsukiji Small Theater together with Kaoru Osanai and Yoshi Hijikata.
The Tsukiji Small Theater was opened on June 13, 1924 at Tsukiji 2-chome, Chuo-ku, as Japan's first permanent theater for new plays. It has been five years after the second generation Ichikawa Sadanji performed the last performance of the Jiyu Theater.
The Tsukiji Small Theater was located at the location of the NTT DATA Tsukiji Building, where the current Mizuho Bank Tsukiji Branch was located. There is still a monument in that corner.
A monument left on the site of the Tsukiji Small Theater
If you look closely at the shape of the theater engraved on the monument, the upper part of the arched entrance is a bunch of grapes that symbolize Bacchus, the god of sake, drunkenness and theatre. This became the symbol of the Tsukiji Small Theater.
The decoration of grapes is particularly eye-catching on the simple entrance
In fact, the motif of this grape has been carefully handed down to one of the buildings of the Shiki Theater Company.
That's right.
Entrance of the Jiyuto Theater in Takeshiba
This "Jiyu Theater" is not a free theater worked on by the second generation Ichikawa Sadanji and Kaoru Osanai, but a new theater opened by Shiki Theater Company in Takeshiba in 2003. It was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Shiki Theater Company as a place to inherit the "legal new drama". It seems that Keita, who was alive, was particularly strong, and his anniversary was held at this theater.
If you look closely at the center of the round glass at the top of the entrance, you can see that the grapes, the symbol of the Tsukiji Small Theater, are casually drawn.
Grape decorations are placed not only at the top of this entrance, but also at various places in the free theater, such as entrance doors and iron fences inside the theater.
Iron grapes that decorate the entrance door. There is a relief from Keita Asari on the back wall.…
Keita was trying to re-unite the flow of new Japanese drama inherited from his father, Tsuruo's Tsukiji Small Theater and his great uncle, Kawazadanji's Jiyu Theater, to create a new flow. There is something deeply moved by imagine.
One-sided love call for the Shiki Theater Company
In Chuo-ku, there are a number of fine theaters such as Kabukiza, Meijiza, and Shimbashi Enbujo, but as one of the Shiki Theater Company fans, we hope that there will be about one theater of the Shiki Theater Company in Chuo-ku. I'm thinking.
There is also a large vacant lot in Tsukiji that is perfect for building a theater (and tweeting and laughing without permission), I hope you come someday.
"Shiki Theater" [Autumn] [Winter] from Tsukiji Ohashi, featuring a diagonal roof.
Access Information
■Monument at the site of the Tsukiji Small Theater
〒104-0045 2-11-17, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
2-minute walk from Exit 2 of Tsukiji Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line