January 25th, 2026 @ 1:00 am – 7:30 am EST
Presented by The Japan Foundation
In association with the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto
CINEMA KABUKI: In High Definition on the Big Screen ‒ Direct from Japan ‒ English subtitled. Kabuki Theatre filmed with high-resolution cameras for cinemas in High-Definition digital projection and six-channel sound. A twisted comedy set in the tenements in Rakuda: Party with a Dead Man, the further developments of the scandalous secret love and downfall in Princess Sakurahime Part II, and a romantic yet domestic dance-comedy in The Zen Substitute.
Advanced tickets on sale on November 19 (Tuesday) at 2:00 p.m.
On-Line at Ticketmaster.com
Telephone: 416-599-2033 (TIFF Lightbox box office)
Tickets can also be purchased In-Person at the TIFF Lightbox box office.
Admission for each screening: $24.80 including Tax and handling charge.
All seats are assigned.
TIFF Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto, Cinema 2
Cinema Kabuki 2026 Toronto Time Table:
Sunday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m. Rakuda: Party with a Dead Man 52 minutes
Sunday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m. Princess Sakurahime Part II 138 minutes
Sunday, January 25 at 6:25 p.m. The Zen Substitute 62 minutes
Rakuda, Party with a Dead Man
A twisted comedy set in the tenements
Sunday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m. 52 minutes
【らくだ 眠駱駝物語 ねむる、が、らくだ、ものがたり】
Based on Rakugo comic storytelling
Premiered in 1928
Written by Onitarō Oka based on a Rakugo story
Directed for the stage by Shigetami Enomoto
Directed for Cinema Kabuki by Hiroyuki Nakatani
Recorded live at Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, 2008
52 minutes, English subtitled
© 2008 Shochiku Co., Ltd.
Uma, an unpopular tenant, dies, his only friend Hanji cooks up a scheme to make some money. He sends Kyūroku, the junk collector, to demand support for the funeral celebrations from Uma’s miserly landlord – or else the dead Uma will come to his house and dance. Kabuki’s most powerful acting duo, Kanzaburo and Mitsugoro, light a fire under this twisted comedy, which turns to hilarious farce with the aid of copious amounts of sake.
落語原作の、江戸下町長屋の笑劇。フグの毒で急死した長屋の嫌われ者の屍を引っ提げて、葬式を口実に酒と肴の強請り放題、さて大家さんは応じるか？
Princess Sakurahime Part II
Sunday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m.
【桜姫東文章 下の巻 さくらひめ あずまぶんしょう げのまき】
Premiered in Bunka 14 (1817) at Kawarazaki-za Theatre, Edo, Tokyo
Written by TSURUYA Nanboku
Recorded live at Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, 2021
138 minutes, English subtitled
© 2022 Shochiku Co., Ltd.
A sweet child and a monk, an esteemed princess and a thief— two unusual couples whose fates are linked by karma. A high-ranking monk is convinced that Princess Sakurahime is the reincarnation of his dead male lover and falls madly for her. Sakurahime, however, is obsessed with finding the unknown villain who raped her and left her pregnant. Described by critics and historians as one of the most scandalous Kabuki plays ever written, this story of the secret love and downfall of Princess Sakurahime still has the power to shock contemporary audiences. The playwright TSURUYA Nanboku was at the apex of the overripe culture of Edo in the Bunka-Bunsei period (1804-1830). Nanboku’s masterpiece has been brought to the live stage in the most ideal manner by Kabuki’s golden pair, Nizaemon and Tamasaburo, who started their collaboration in their twenties. This Cinema Kabuki presentation is a precious record of their reunion in their most successful repertoire for the first time in 36 years.
Following last year’s Part I screening,
Part II starts with a summary of Part I to refresh your memory,
or to enable you to enjoy Part II by itself.
桜姫―玉三郎―と、清玄/権助―仁左衛門二役―との因縁愛憎はさらに渦を巻き、愛欲と尊厳が激しく交錯衝突する。いよいよ大詰めに迫り、南北独特の奇想のどんでん返しが次々に炸裂。
The Zen Substitute
Sunday, January 25 at 6:25 p.m.
【身替座禅 みがわり ざぜん】
Premiered in 1910
Written by Okamura Shikō
Directed for Cinema Kabuki by Sekine Kiyoshi
Recorded live at Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, 2009
62 minutes, English subtitled
© 2010 Shochiku Co., Ltd.
Lord Ukyō announces to his wife that he intends to isolate himself in Zen meditation by locking himself in a remote pavilion overnight. The truth, however, is that he is
planning to sneak out to see a woman he had met on a recent trip. As a decoy, a hapless servant is forced to stay in the prayer pavilion in a place of the lord. Although the lord’s wife is supposed to refrain from visiting her husband out of respect for his religious isolation, she is so monstrously affectionate that she breaks her vow and goes looking for him. This simple domestic farce is elevated to an expression of the joyful energy of life by two of the best dancers of the Kabuki world, Kanzaburo and Mitsugoro.
狂言を基にした歌舞伎舞踊の最高傑作のひとつ。今は共に亡き十八世勘三郎と十世三津五郎の舞踊コンビの、最も充実した時期の、豊かにおおらかに、そして洒落た、あの幻の舞台の記録、今よみがえる。
