Cinema Kabuki 2022 Toronto
July 16 & 17 ● TIFF Bell Lightbox
In High Definition on the Big Screen | Direct from Japan | Presented with English subtitles
Including Canadian premieres of Kuruwa Bunshō and a new version of Murder in a Hell of Oil
Ticketed Admission: $25.71 per screening, including tax and handling fees.

Kabuki Theatre, with origins dating back to the 1600s, has remained steeped in tradition while constantly innovating itself. Live productions, featuring some of today’s greatest Kabuki stars, are now being filmed with high resolution cameras for screening in cinemas on state-of-the-art digital projection systems and six-channel sound.

In association with the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto. Presented by The Japan Foundation.

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Cinema Kabuki Schedule

♦ Saturday, July 16, 2022

1:00 PM [ Cinema Kabuki: 三人吉三 Three Thieves Named Kichisa ] 136 min.

4:45 PM [ Cinema Kabuki: 廓文章 Kuruwa Bunshō ] 97 min.

 

♦ Sunday, July 17, 2022

1:00 PM [ Cinema Kabuki: 阿古屋 Akoya ] 93 min.

4:00 PM [ Cinema Kabuki: 女殺油地獄 Murder in a Hell of Oil ] 103 min.

 

To Buy Tickets:
Online: Tickets Available Here 
Telephone: 416-599-2033 (TIFF Bell Lightbox box office)
Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the TIFF Bell Lightbox box office
Ticketed Admission. All seats are assigned.
$25.71 per screening, including tax and handling fees.

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Three Thieves Named Kichisa
(an urban outlaw story)

San’nin Kichisa
三人吉三

Kankuro, Shichinosuke, Matsuya 勘九郎、七之助、松也
Premiered in 1860
Written by Kawatake Mokuami
Directed for the stage and Cinema Kabuki by Kushida Kazuyoshi
Recorded live at Theater Cocoon, Shibuya, Tokyo, 2014
136 min.
Subtitled in English
Trailer 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikN3jxiLxU 
Trailer 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRmoN1_bGsg
Synopsis and background: http://www.kabuki21.com/sannin_kichisa.php

Early 19^th-century Edo (the former name of Tokyo) had juvenile delinquents and outlaws everywhere. Urban culture was overripe. Three thieves happen to meet on a dark New Year’s night. They feel compassion for each other instantly and vow brotherhood. But they do not know that this encounter is only one milestone of their fate. Long before the three meet, their lives have already been entangled. An intricate web of destiny eventually drives them to their deaths. Kankuro, Shichinosuke, and Matsuya are three of the most promising young Kabuki actors. This classic play is given new life by these young talents in an unconventional production by Kushida at a contemporary venue, Theater Cocoon, located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, known as the Street of Youth.

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Kuruwa Bunshō – Yoshidaya (Love Letters in Pleasure Quarters)
(A rendezvous in pleasure quarter)

Kuruwa Bunshō – Yoshidaya
廓文章 吉田屋 くるわ ぶんしょう よしだや

Nizaemon, Tamasaburo 仁左衛門、玉三郎
Premiered in 1793 as a puppet theatre play
Premiered as a Kabuki play in 1808
Recorded live at Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, April 2009
97 min.
Subtitled in English
Trailer: https://youtu.be/r8-chzGpNJY
Synopsis and background: http://www.kabuki21.com/kuruwa_bunsho.php

The role of Izaemon is performed in the style of wagoto, one of Kabuki’s stock characters. Although these wagoto-type men are not powerful physically and financially, Izaemon is such a charmer and the most popular one in the pleasure quarter, who is sensitive, childlike, funny, and handsome. After a long absence Izaemon tries to reconnect with his lover, the courtesan Yūgiri, for a rendezvous. She has been missing him so much that she is lovesick, yet he accuses her of being unfaithful. This teasing is part of a flirtation, and the emotional exchanges of the love scene unfold in choreographed movements to the sensuous accompaniment of two groups of music ensembles, Gidayū and Tokiwazu. These idealized beautiful lovers, like a fairy-tale prince and princess, are performed by Kabuki’s golden couple Nizaemon and Tamasaburo.

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Akoya
(a historical epic with Gidayū music accompaniment)

Dannoura Kabuto Gunki
壇浦兜軍記 だんのうら かぶと ぐんき

Tamasaburo, Kikunosuke, Kanzaburo 玉三郎、菊之助、勘三郎
Premiered in 1732 as a puppet theatre play
Written by Bunkōdō and Hasegawa Senshi
Recorded live at Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, October 2015
93 min.
Subtitled in English
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjSwZYxL2bU
Synopsis and background: http://www.kabuki21.com/akoya.php

Defeated Samurai commander Kagekiyo vanishes and is searched for by the victorious Genji clan. Courtesan Akoya, Kagekiyo’s lover, is arrested and interrogated to learn the hideout of Kagekiyo. The interrogator confronts Akoya with an emotionally, sophisticatedly elevated way of torture to pull out the truth from this dedicated lover; instead of violence or pain, three music instruments are used to hear the clarity in tones as a reflection of the honesty of her mind. Actually playing three instruments onstage, plus singing, Tamasaburo realizes magnificently one of the most challenging Kabuki female roles.

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Murder in a Hell of Oil
(a murder story)

Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku
女殺油地獄　おんなごろし あぶらの じごく

Koshiro, Ennosuke 幸四郎、猿之助
Premiered as a Bunraku puppet play in 1721
Written by CHIKAMATSU Monzaemon
Premiered as a Kabuki play in 1909
Recorded live at Shochiku-za Theatre, Osaka, July 2018
103 min.
Subtitled in English
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WP1hOZjwTU
Synopsis and background: http://www.kabuki21.com/abura_no_jigoku.php

In Osaka, the centre of commerce in 18th-century Japan, Yohei is the prodigal son of an oil merchant who consumes the family fortune pursuing “pleasures of the night”. In spite of the heartfelt concern of his mother and stepfather, Yohei will not give up. Finally cornered by loan sharks, Yohei begs Okichi, the wife of a fellow oil merchant, for money. Upon her refusal, Yohei turns into a cruel murderer. Blood and oil gush in Kabuki’s most spectacular murder scene. Koshirō and Ennosuke, members of the younger generations of Kabuki actors, face the challenge of this masterpiece under the supervision of Nizaemon, a Living National Treasure.

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シネマ歌舞伎

ハイ・デフィニションの大画面で観る歌舞伎
HDカメラ8台が捉え、高画質シネマ・プロジェクターで映写、６チャンネル音響で再生される、歌舞伎の醍醐味。
映画館いっぱいの、生の臨場感と華麗な舞台の魅力。
全作品英語字幕付

♦ Saturday, July 16, 2022

1:00 PM [Cinema Kabuki: 三人吉三 Three Thieves Named Kichisa] 136 min.

4:45 PM [Cinema Kabuki: 廓文章 Kuruwa Bunshō] 97 min.

 

♦ Sunday, July 17, 2022

1:00 PM [Cinema Kabuki: 阿古屋 Akoya] 93 min.

4:00 PM [Cinema Kabuki: 女殺油地獄 Murder in a Hell of Oil] 103 min.

 

オンラインチケット購入 
電話416-599-2033　または対人で、ライトボツクス入場券販売窓口まで
入場券料各上映　$25.71税手数料込　全席指定

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三人吉三

世話物串田和美新演出版
英題 Three Thieves Named Kichisa
河竹黙阿弥作
1860年初演
劇場舞台新演出: 串田和美
2014年東京渋谷シアター・コクーンでライヴ収録
シネマ歌舞伎監督: 串田和美
136分
予告編 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikN3jxiLxU
予告編 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRmoN1_bGsg
英語あらすじ: http://www.kabuki21.com/sannin_kichisa.php
日本語あらすじ: https://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/repertoire/662/

19世紀初めの江戸、大都市の爛熟した文化の最下部には、不良や無法者が蠢いていた。三人の盗人が新年の夜の闇の中で出会い、不思議な共感に導かれて義兄弟の契りを結ぶ。その時三人の誰もが、この出会いは、連綿と続く彼らの運命の糸の皮肉なもつれの、ほんの一部でしかなかった事に気づく術もなかった。三人が顔を合わせるはるか以前に、彼らの人生はもつれ合っていた。運命の網は三人をからめ捕り、ついには死に至らしめる。三人の頼もしい若手歌舞伎俳優、勘九郎・七之助・松也が大暴れ、串田和美の革新的な演出で、古典作品に新たな息吹が与えられる。若者の街、東京渋谷のシアター・コクーンでの実況録画をもとに、串田和美が新たなシネマ歌舞伎版を監督。

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廓文章 吉田屋
くるわ ぶんしょう よしだや

上方歌舞伎恋模様
英題 Love Letters in Pleasure Quarters
近松門左衛門作
1732年人形浄瑠璃初演
2015年10月東京歌舞伎座でライヴ収録
93分
予告編: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8-chzGpNJY
英語あらすじ: http://www.kabuki21.com/kuruwa_bunsho.php
日本語あらすじ: https://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/repertoire/514/

はんなりとした演技に代表される歌舞伎和事芸の神髄を、仁左衛門が伊左衛門役で見せる。腕力も財力もなく、頼りないにもかかわらず、モテモテで、誰からも好かれ、楽しく明るく、繊細でやくしく、無邪気なほどに純粋無垢な色男が、大阪新町の絶世の花魁夕霧と恋仲。しばらく仁左衛門の足が遠のいている間に、夕霧は恋煩いでやつれてしまう。久しぶりの再会に、仁左衛門はすねるは愚痴るはの悪態づく、しかしこれもすべては恋の駆け引き。歌舞伎の黄金コンビ仁左衛門玉三郎の美男美女の邂逅が、義太夫と常磐津の二つの楽曲の掛け合いに乗り、ほとんど舞踊劇化した官能的かつ寓話的な場面に描かれていく。

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阿古屋
だんのうら かぶと ぐんき

壇浦兜軍記 だんのうら かぶと ぐんき
時代物義太夫狂言
英題　Dannoura Kabuto Gunki
近松門左衛門作
1732年人形浄瑠璃初演
2015年10月東京歌舞伎座でライヴ収録
93分
予告編: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=GPDeY3nNmSM
英語あらすじ: http://www.kabuki21.com/akoya.php
英語あらすじ: https://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/
日本語あらすじ: https://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/repertoire/2134/

源平合戦の最中、敗軍の将平景清の逃走先が、景清の愛人、京都五条坂の遊女阿古屋に問いただされる。拷問で口を割らせようとする岩永を押さえ、秩父庄司重忠は、阿古屋に三種類の楽器の演奏を求める。心にやましいものがあれば、楽の音に自ずと乱れが生じるとて、景清の行方を知らないと言い張る阿古屋の言葉の真偽が音楽で問われる。琴・三味線・胡弓を役者自身で演奏し、唄も歌う阿古屋は、女形最大の難役。現代歌舞伎女形の最高峰、人間国宝の坂東玉三郎の代表作、絢爛豪華な舞台。

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女殺油地獄
おんなごろし あぶらの じごく

世話物殺人ドラマ
英題　Murder in a Hell of Oil
出演　幸四郎、猿之助
近松門左衛門作
1721年人形浄瑠璃初演
1909年歌舞伎初演
2018年7月大阪松竹座でライヴ収録
103分
予告編: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WP1hOZjwTU
英語あらすじ: http://www.kabuki21.com/abura_no_jigoku.php
日本語あらすじ: https://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/repertoire/1450/

元禄文化咲き誇る商都大阪で現実の事件を基に、日本のシェイクスピア、近松門左衛門が描く、ある都会的な消費生活者の破綻。商家の道楽息子が借金返済に窮して陥る、家庭内暴力と金目当ての殺人の濃密な世界に、若手歌舞伎俳優幸四郎・猿之助が、人間国宝仁左衛門の監修を受けて挑戦。油の大桶を次々に引き倒しながらの、血まみれ油まみれの殺し場が、圧巻。