Founded in 1970 by director Sho Ryuzanji, the Engekidan company was a natural bridge between two major theatrical movements in postwar Japan: the 1960s underground scene of dramatists such as Shuji Terayama and Juro Kara and the so-called "small-scale theater movement" started in the 1980s by the likes of Hideki Noda and Shoji Kokami. Ryuzanji's current company, the Ryuzanji Company, is now presenting "Buraikan," the first play in a series commemorating the late Terayama.
"Buraikan" is based on Terayama's 1970 movie of the same name, which was itself based on a traditional kabuki play by Mokuami Kawatake titled "Kumoni Magou Uenono Hatsuhana" about the violent, dying days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In Ryuzanji's version the struggle is not against the shogunate, but against subsequent post-Restoration governments bent on controlling the people and robbing them of life's pleasures. The staging at The Benisan Pit features a star-studded ensemble including Ryudo Uzaki (music), Tengai Amano (film effects), Norihiko Tsukuda (script writing) and the noh actor Hideo Kanze. As he prepared for curtain-up on July 14, Ryuzanji shared his thoughts with The Japan Times.
Tell me about your current production, 'Buraikan'