In order to fully experience Chikamatsu Monzaemon's play, THE LOVE SUICIDES OF AMIJIMA, you must understand a bit about Japanese theater. Both in form and pattern, Japanese theater dealt with realistic themes in an exaggerated and highly theatrical way. The period in which Monzaemon wrote is called the Genroku period, a kind of renaissance where the chonin class, or merchant class, inspired new stories in art.
THE LOVE SUICIDES OF AMIJIMA were originally performed as a bunraku (or joruri) play, which is done using large, realistic puppets. Please explore this Bunraku site from the Japanese art council, as well as this site which includes photographs of the play. Click on the final "points of interest" link for the pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment