SINGAPORE – Bunraku, a traditional form of Japanese puppet theatre, will be showcased here tomorrow.
It will be the first full bunraku performance in Singapore, according to the Singapore Bunraku Steering Committee.
Love And Mercy: Into The World Of Bunraku, will run at the Drama Centre Theatre to mark the 10th anniversary of the Japan Creative Centre, run by the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.
The origins of bunraku can be traced back to the 1680s. It is a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Performers include a narrator, or "tayu", a shamisen player and puppeteers, three of whom are required to operate a major puppet to bring out the precise movements of its face, torso and even fingers.
"We hope this performance will inspire the audience to delve deeper into the rich traditional culture of Japan and provide an opportunity to help deepen the understanding of Japan and Japanese culture," says the Japan Creative Centre in a statement.
The performance will showcase excerpts from two bunraku classics, The Red-Hot Love – The Fire Watchtower, in which the heroine Oshichi, desperate to pass a sword to her lover Kichisaburo before he is forced to commit suicide for losing it, climbs a watchtower to illegally ring the bell; and The Miracle At Tsubosaka Temple – The House Of Sawaichi And The Mountain, in which misunderstandings between a blind man and his wife cause both of them to throw themselves into a valley.
Renowned bunraku performers coming to Singapore for the show include tayu Takemoto Chitosedayu, 60; puppeteer Kiritake Kanjuro, 66; and shamisen player Tsurusawa Enza, 60.
Tsurusawa, who had a stroke in 2014 and has refrained from performing overseas while he recovered, was persuaded by the producer to come to Singapore for this performance because it has little time difference from Japan.
"I experienced South-east Asian weather when I performed in Malaysia some time ago, and it can be a little harsh for the shamisen," he says in Japanese through a translated e-mail interview. "Therefore, I am a bit worried about that.
"I would like everyone who has not been familiar with bunraku to come, see, listen and learn about it."
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BOOK IT/ LOVE AND MERCY: INTO THE WORLD OF BUNRAKU
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WHERE: Drama Centre Theatre, Level 3, National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street
