SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Twelfth Night

Synopsis

A televised version of Ninagawa’s 2005 Kabuki production of Twelfth Night transposed to 14th century Japan and set on the sea-coast of the Kii Province.

Language

Japanese

Country

Japan

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Transmission details

2007

Availability

No archive copy or distributor known (5/2009)

Credits

Director

Yukio Ninagawa

Writer

William Shakespeare

Production Design

Yuichiro Kanai

Adaptor for Television

Toyoshige Imai

Cast

Onoe Kikunosuke	Biwa-hime (Viola (later disguised as Cesario))
Nakamura Shinjiro	Oshino Sadaijin (Orsino, Duke of Illyria)
Onoe Kikugoro	Sutesuke (Malvolio)
Onoe Kikugoro	Sutesuke (Feste)
Ichikawa Kamejiro	Ma (Maria)
Ichikawa Sadanji	Toin Kanemichi (Sir Toby Belch)
Onoe Kikunosuke	Shiba Shuzen-no-suke (Sebastian)

Additional Details

Theatre

Kabuki-za Theatre

Theatre company

Kabuki-za

Production type

Television and Radio Drama

Historical period

Medieval

Plays

Twelfth Night

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Kabuki; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Doubling of roles

Notes

History

Transmission date and channel unknown (7/2008). Produced by the Kabuki-za Theatre at the Kabuki-za Theatre, Tokyo, 7-31 July 2005.

Textual information

Translated into Japanese by Yushi Odashima in 1983 and re-worked in Kabuki by playwright Toyoshige Imai.

Reviews

Interview with the director on the production and Kabuki theatre at http://www.performingarts.jp/E/art_interview/0508/1.html (accessed 7/2008).