Paper short abstract:

Noda Hideki often referred to other writers' works as motifs in his works, and he adapted some classics as well. He met Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII and they collaborated for creating Noda versions of kabuki, inviting new audiences to kabuki as well as to the theatre of Noda.

Paper long abstract:

Noda Hideki (1955-) is one of the most popular playwrights and directors in modern Japan. He started to write drama for school festival in his senior high school and one of his very early works was an adaptation of a well-known Japanese novel Hikarigoke dealing with cannibalism. He founded Yume no Yumin-sha in 1972 as a student theatre company in the University of Tokyo, then he continued it as a professional theatre company in 1982 after their final performance in Komaba sho gekijo. He wrote more than 20 plays during the professional decade of Yume no Yumin-sha mainly for his company. The works written for Yume no Yumin-sha are characterized by rapidly changing scenes with energetic physical movement like athletes and speech plays with intertwined words. They had been one of the most popular theatre companies among younger generations. However, Noda dissolved it in 1992 and left for London to study UK theatre, supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. Noda's creative style came to respect plot and theme such as about violence, wars and discrimination after the study in London, keeping its physicality and verbal play. He founded NODA・MAP in 1993, which is a production system and company recruiting actors through workshops for each performance. He is currently the artistic director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, and continues to produce new works by NODA・MAP. On the other hand, Noda wrote and directed three kabuki pieces, Togitatsu no Utare (2001), Nezumi-kozou (2003) and Aida-hime (2008). Togitatsu no Utare and Nezumi-kozou are adaptations from original kabuki pieces, and Aida-hime is also an adaptation, which is a transposition from Verdi's opera. He created his kabuki world cooperating with the late Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII (1955-2012), and he wrote each protagonist especially for Kanzaburo XVIII. Noda versions of kabuki challenged borders of traditional performing arts and they invited new audiences not only to kabuki but also to the theatre of Noda. The author will discuss the three kabuki pieces created by Noda and Kanzaburo XVIII as challenges for traditional performing arts in modern Japan.