Bunraku Returns to Boston After 20 Years
By: Randy Rice Sep. 10, 2007
The Japan Society of Boston announced today that Bunrako, the
classic traditional puppet theatre of Japan will return to Boston
October 2-3 as part of a national tour of the United States.
"We
are delighted to be able to bring Bunraku back to Boston after so many
years," commented Peter Grilli, President of the Japan Society of
Boston. "This is a national tour that is long overdue and eagerly
awaited. Bunraku demonstrates an extraordinary choreography among
The
three puppeteers working each puppet, and the performance as a whole
reveals an integration of words, movement and music in a form of
theater unlike anything else in the world."
The
Society will present two performances of Bunraku at the Cutler Majestic
Theatre on Tuesday, October 2 and Wednesday, October 3, and will also
offer an educational workshop about Bunraku for Boston schoolchildren
on the afternoon of October 3.
The
performances will be by a troupe of 32 top artists from the National
Bunraku Theater of Japan based in Osaka,Japan. This tour, which
will also travel to Chicago,San Francisco and Los Angeles, is the
first major presentation of Bunraku in the US since 1992, and the
first appearance of Bunraku in Boston since 1984..
One
of Japan's most celebrated traditional art forms, Bunraku traces its
origins to the 18th century and developed alongside Kabuki in the
vigorous urban culture of early-modern Japan. It features large
puppets that are three-quarters life size, each manipulated by three
onstage puppeteers and each moving in extraordinarily lifelike actions.
The Bunraku puppets are accompanied by an onstage narrator who recites
all the dialogue and takes on the personality of each character in the
drama; seated next to the narrator at stage left are musicians
performing on the banjo-like three-stringed shamisen. The three
elements of puppets, narration, and music are integrated in a
multi-dimensioned performance.
Performances
will be at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, October 2, and Wednesday, October 3, and
will be in Japanese with English supertitles.
Ticket prices are $65, $55, $35 and a special student price of $20
Tickets are available at the Cutler Majestic Theatre box office at 219 Tremont Street, in Boston's theater district, and by phone and online at Telecharge, 800-233-3123 or www.telecharge.com.
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