"The plays in this collection reflect, in a sense, the 'present moment' of Japan's society and theater as seen in the context of the past ten years. Many of them portray a microcosm--the small-scale world of the individual and his or her surroundings. However, they cannot be categorized as domestic drama or drama of passion." --from the Foreword by Sakate Yoji, president of the Japan Playwrights Association
'Crucible Bodies' is a study of Japanese performance culture. It covers a range of historical and theoretical topics, from Brecht in Japan to 'children's' bodies in postmodern Japanese performances, from the notion of beauty in contemporary cultural theory to practical and theoretical readings of recent intercultural performances.
Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance is a collection of sixteen essays on Japanese theatre, including historical overviews of twentieth century theatre, analyses of specific productions and individuals, and consideration of the intercultural nature of modern Japanese theatre. Also included is a new translation of a 'Superkyogen' play.
Dramatic Interactions is a collection of essays on the flourishing and interdisciplinary subject of teaching foreign languages, literatures, and cultures through theater. With rich examples from a variety of commonly and less commonly taught languages, this book affirms both the relevance and effectiveness of using theater for foreign language learning in the most comprehensive sense of the term. It includes innovative approaches to specific theatrical texts and addresses numerous aspects of foreign language learning such as oral proficiency and communication, intercultural competence, the role of affect and motivation in foreign language study, multiple literacies, regional variations and dialect, literary analysis and adaptation, and the overall liberating effects of verbal and non-verbal self-expression in the foreign language. Dramatic Interactions renders accessible, efficacious, and enjoyable the study of languages, literatures, and cultures through theater with the hope of inspiring and facilitating the greater incorporation of theatrical texts and techniques in foreign language courses at every level.
In this fourth volume in the series, five playwrights portray diverse human predicaments whose common concern is the conflict between self-determination and social discrimination. The different approaches are spiced with a piquant sense of humor. Contents: Ode to Joy (Kitamura S ); Nippon Wars (Kawamura Takeshi); A Legend of Mermaids (Chong Wishing); Thread Hell (Kishida Rio); The Red Demon Akaoni (Noda Hideki).
This anthology is the first to survey the full range of modern Japanese drama and make available JapanÕs best and most representative twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century works in one volume. Divided into six chronological sections: ÒThe Age of Taisho DramaÓ; The Tsukiji Tsukiji Little Theater and Its AftermathÓ; ÒWartime and Postwar DramaÓ; ÒThe 1960s and Underground TheaterÓ; ÒThe 1980s and BeyondÓ; and ÒPopular Theater,Ó the collection opens with a comprehensive introduction to Meiji period drama and provides an informal yet complete history of twentieth-century Japanese theater for students, scholars, instructors, and dramatists. The collection features a mix of original and previously published translations of works, among them plays by such writers as Masamune Hakucho (The Couple Next Door), Enchi Fumiko (Restless Night in Late Spring), Abe Kobo (The Man Who Turned into a Stick), Morimoto Kaoru (A WomanÕs Life), Kara Juro (Two Women), Terayama Shuji (Poison Boy), Noda Hideki (Poems for Sale), and Mishima Yukio (The Sardine SellerÕs Net of Love). Leading translators include Donald Keene, J. Thomas Rimer, Mitsuyra Mori, M. Cody Poulton, John Gillespie, Mari Boyd, and Brian Powell. Each section features an introduction to the developments and character of the period, notes on the playsÕ productions, and photographs of their stage performances. The volume complements any course on modern Japanese literature and any study of modern drama in China, Korea, or other Asian or contemporary Western nation.
A multidisciplinary forrum for communicating new information, new interpretations, and recent research results concerning Japan to the English-reading world.
