_KABUKI PLAYS
Shunkan on Devil Island
A kabuki adaptation of a scene from Heike nyogo no shima, by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Translated by Samuel L. Leiter
The noh play Shunkan and the puppet-kabuki piece Shunkan on Devil Island (Shunkan, or Kikaigashima no ba) draw on the same materials from The Tale of the Heike: both open with three exiles describing their lives and close with a depiction of Shunkan's loneliness. The way each play progresses from its beginning to the shared conclusion, however, is strikingly different and reveals much about the two traditions. The noh play isolates Shunkan's emotions, portrays the intensity of his loneliness, and advocates the effectiveness of religious practice. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, in writing the puppet play of which "Shunkan on Devil Island" is but a single act, invented new characters to create romantic interests, conflict (leading to the almost obligatory fight scene), and self-sacrifice, all staple elements of the puppet-kabuki tradition in which 1 honor, and sacrifice are the predominant virtues.
The kabuki version of this act, the version translated here, contains clear traces of its noh and puppet antecedents. All three musical traditions are represented. The noh flute and drums accompany Shunkan's entrance, and the gidayu shamisenfflw chanter sit at stage left to describe and accompany much of the action. In tabul most of the lines of direct speech are spoken by the actors rather than by the chai er, although as is usual in traditional Japanese theater, the boundaries beh^e rect speech and description are often not clear. Typical kabuki music and soun ^ fects echo forth from the music room (geza). Large drum patterns related to predominate, with ripple patterns (sazanami) accompanying the ernot'ona sages and wave patterns (namioto) accenting the entrances, exits, and stage *
Chikamatsu Monzaemon's puppet play The Heike and the Isle ofWomen nyogo no shima) was first performed at the Takemoto Theater in Osaka ||j was adapted to the kabuki stage in the following year. In 1759 Ichikawa ^ ^ (1709-1772) performed the role of Shunkan so successfully that the scene
Island-most of act 2 nf A r- shunkan on dfvt,
found in Koiurita „ I-     '"«'»«on is tka( „,,..,. 9 5
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