The Wandering Yamamura Theater Troupe

The 1958 movie discussed is about a stage show that includes “popular kabuki plays performed in a broad style.” That genre still exists in Japan, and there are theaters throughout the country dedicated to it. It’s now called taishū geki (popular theater) [1]. Though it seems to be surviving, it’s a rather minor subculture. I’ve talked to Japanese adults who weren’t aware of it.

About fifteen years ago, I went to see plays at several taishū geki theaters in Osaka. The venues were small, seating perhaps a hundred people or so. The audiences were mostly women in their forties or older. The plays were historical dramas and comedies. The performances were indeed “in a broad style,” with exaggerated emotions, sword fights, and heart-tugging sentiment.

What I remember most was a show at a theater in a down-at-its-heels part of Osaka [2]. The troupe was in the last day of its run, and for the closing the leading onnagata (male actor who plays female roles) appeared alone, dressed in an especially fancy kimono and hairpiece and doing a slow dance right at the edge the stage. Audience members went up to the stage one by one and tucked tips into the folds of his kimono and obi. Some of the money was in envelopes, but some was visible. They were mostly 10,000-yen bills, and some people gave several. By the end of the performance, the actor must have had the equivalent of several thousand dollars tucked into his clothing. I had been wondering how taishū geki was able to survive economically with such small audiences and what must be considerable expenses in costumes and the like. Now I understood.

[1] https://0481.jp/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/os.gekijyo_osaka/