ENGEKIKAI (December 2020, #12): COVER AND CONTENTS

Matsumoto Hakuō II. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)

The cover for the December issue of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, shows Matsumoto Hakuō II as the sumo wrestler Chōgorō in the “Sumō Scene” of Futatsu Chōchō Kuruwa Niki (Chōgorō and Chōkichi: Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters) as produced at the Kabuki-za last October. This is the same character seen on the cover of the November 2020 issue, which I recently posted, but from another scene. As per the cover headlines, the issue again leads with a section on how several actors feel about performing at this time, the actors covered here being Nakamura Kaishun, Nakamura Karoku, and Nakamura Shidō. There is a new installment of Matsumoto Kōshirō X’s long-running series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights,” “Trends in September-October Theatre,” reviews of October’s kabuki, a reprinting of archival materials from 1946 about touring Japan with kabuki, right after the war, and a lengthy obituary about the late Onoe Kikujūrō IV, who died last September at 88.

ENGEKIKAI, #11 (November 2020)

 

Nakamura Kichiemon II, Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.

Sorry for the delay, partly due to slower mail service from Japan during the pandemic, and partly because I’ve been so busy with other things, but here, at last, is the cover of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, from last November, 2020 (#11). After a bit, I’ll post other recent issues as well. Theatre activity, of course, has slowed considerably during Covid-19. 

On the cover is Nakamura Kichiemon II as the sumo wrestler Chōgorō in the “Hikimado” (“Skylight”) scene of Futatsu Chōchō Kuruwa no Nikki (Chōgorō and Chōkichi: A Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters), performed last September at the Kabuki-za. 

The chief article headlined on the cover is about how actors are feeling about performing at this particular time, covered in illustrated discussions with three stars, Matsumoto Hakuō, Nakamura Baigyoku, and Nakamura Shikan. Other selected highlights mentioned on the cover are reviews of last September’s limited productions; a section on kabuki productions given independently of the mainstream by important actors over the years; trends in last August and September’s theatre world; the latest in the series called “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights,” by star actor Matsumoto Kōshirō X; and an essay with photos of Nakamura Kichiemon II’s special performance last August at Tokyo’s Kanze Nōgakudō noh theatre of a solo dance-drama called Suma no Ura (Suma Bay), derived from the classic history play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki, and performed in noh style. Its one performance was filmed with no audience present.