Kawakami Otojiro ( jap. 川 上 音 二郎 ) ; February 8, 1864 , Fukuoka - November 11, 1911 , Osaka ) - Japanese theater actor, theater worker, activist of the movement for freedom and people's rights.
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 Kawakami Otojiro with his wife Sadayakko | |
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Biography
Born in a merchant family. After the death of his mother at the age of 11, he escaped from his home, making his way to a cargo ship, to Osaka. At age 18, got a job as a cop in Kyoto . He got carried away with politics and was dismissed for calling for democracy. He became a member of the Liberal Party of Japan Itagaki Taisuke . He was arrested and imprisoned many times; he was forbidden to speak publicly in front of the Kyoto public for a year.
Later he received an acting education and created his own troupe, became a master rakugo .
Actor comic genre. Performer humorous ballads. Participated in the movement for the democratization of theatrical art of Japan.
In 1891 he founded the original wandering troupe Sosi-Sibay, similar in technique to the Kabuki theater , but putting on new plays.
In April 1899 he went on a tour of the United States, then over the next two years the troupe Kawakami performed on theater stages in the United States, London and Paris , becoming the first Japanese theater group ever to perform in the West .
In 1903, returning with his troupe from a tour of Europe and the United States, Kawakami staged the Meijidza Theater: Othello , Hamlet , Venetian Merchant , adaptations of Meterlink ’s plays and other European authors. The performances were successful and contributed to the development of the movement for modern drama - singaki.
In 1907, he tried to organize the "All-Japan Association of New Actors", but he failed.
The first plays of the Kawakis were political and nationalistic.
From 1893 he was married to a geisha , actress and dancer Sadayakko .
He died of dropsy on the stage of the Imperial Theater.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Swartz A. Open Library - 2005.
- ↑ 1 2 Faceted Application of Subject Terminology
Literature
- Theatrical Encyclopedia / Chapter. ed. P.A. Markov. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1963. - T. 2.
Links
- Kawakami Otojirō (English)