There is no communication between the above-mentioned classical drama and the modern drama born in modern times. At the beginning of the 20th century, influenced by western modern drama, a new drama appeared, which we call new drama. Directors and actors of new plays will not dabble in classical plays. However, there are exceptions. Many new kabuki works created in modern times are directed by directors of new dramas. This is based on the idea that the script is literature. In other words, the script of classical drama does not belong to the concept of live performance script.
In addition to the above differences, classical dramas and new dramas have one thing in common, that is, they have never been protected by the state and have never been protected by the aristocratic class headed by the emperor in history. This is quite different from the tradition of western royal family to protect drama. There are exceptions here. The modern samurai class once supported the ability to be simple. If this case is excluded, it can be said that both classical dramas and new dramas are cultivated and developed by the people. It still is.
The ability to be slightly five schools is all painstakingly managed by the authority of the teacher. In modern times, the private enterprise Songzhu Company began to monopolize kabuki, which continues to this day. Lewen is also monopolized by pine trees and bamboo. Due to the sharp decline of audience and difficulties in management for a period of time, since 1963, a consortium legal person funded by the state and local autonomous organizations has been established to deal in art and music.
Although the country has nothing to do with drama, it is not so absolute. Japan also has a national theater. The earliest kabuki theater was built in 1966. Since then, traditional arts such as Le Wen, Crosstalk and Crosstalk have their own theaters. At 1997, there is a national theater specially built for modern drama. Different from the national theaters in other countries, none of the above theaters has a troupe specially designed for theaters (different from literature and music), which is the result of the country's poor protection of drama. The phenomenon that there is no national drama school in Japan also reflects this problem. Drama education, such as training actors, is undertaken by the people. In the past two years, there has been a new trend for local governments to set up special theaters for drama and their affiliated troupes. Such as the Mito Art Museum in Edo City, the piccolo Theater in Hyogo Prefecture, and the Stage Art Center in Shizuoka Prefecture, but the atmosphere has not yet formed. A supplementary point about the national drama administration: 1990, under the leadership of the government, the Japan Association for the Promotion of Art and Culture and its affiliated foundation were established. With 50 billion yen invested by the government and1000 billion yen invested by the people as the basic funds, the Culture and Art Promotion Fund was established, and its interest began to sponsor part of the expenses required for performances such as drama, music and dance, and the stage art was sponsored as a state act.
We should pay attention to the present situation of Japanese contemporary drama, that is, the existence of commercial drama companies such as Matsuzaka and Dongbao, and the phenomenon that many private enterprises have nothing to do with drama construction and operation.
In addition to monopolizing kabuki (without Matsuzaka's participation, there would be no kabuki performance in the national theater), Matsuzaka Company also produces theatrical performances in its own theater or borrowed folk theaters. For example, remake Broadway musicals; Making western classical masterpieces such as Shakespeare; Touching European and American modern dramas; Rehearse the new works of Japanese playwrights and so on. In principle, the performance period of loose bamboo is one month.
Usually, the producers of such performances are fully responsible for stage production, looking for actors, directors and dancers from kabuki, drama, television and movies. So is Dongbao Company. Usually, the stage works produced by drama performance companies such as Matsuzaka and Dongbao are called commercial dramas to distinguish them from new dramas. The purpose of commercial drama performance is nothing more than profit. Therefore, the Art Revitalization Fund is not applicable to this field.
Department stores and other theaters built by enterprises unrelated to drama also adopt the producer responsibility system to produce stage works. However, due to the small scale of the theater, it is difficult to profit from the drama performance. Generally speaking, the theater behavior of private enterprises is not so much for profit, but rather a cultural undertaking aimed at enhancing the corporate image. Therefore, it is inevitably biased to compare it with Songzhu and Dongbao as a commercial drama. For such performances, the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund can also provide financial support.
As mentioned above, there is no horizontal communication in the drama industry, but there are exceptions. Some kabuki actors appear in movies, TV dramas, foreign translated dramas and other stage plays, and cooperate with different kinds of actors. Among them, many kabuki actors have become world-class musical actors. This comes down to the talent of the actors. People who are familiar with the basic realistic performance methods of kabuki can perform in cooperation with other kinds of actors. On the contrary, the actors in drama and commercial drama are mainly realistic performances. They didn't have the opportunity to learn how to play kabuki, and they didn't think it was necessary to study.
In short, there are three kinds of classical dramas in Japan today, as well as fields called commercial dramas, dramas, modern puppet dramas and children's dramas. In recent years, musical shows a rapid development momentum. In the newly-built special theater for musicals, a musical can be played for a long time and the audience can reach hundreds of thousands. But these works are not original Japanese musicals, but copies of Broadway or London musicals.
Dongbao Company and Four Seasons Troupe have played a great role in the development of musicals. 1963, Dongbao Company staged My Lovely Girl. Since the performance of 1974 "west side story", the Four Seasons Troupe has continuously introduced Broadway and London musicals, and the troupe has also developed rapidly. Today, the annual performance income of Four Seasons Troupe exceeds that of Songzhu and Dongbao, and the cast has reached more than 800 people. As a troupe, its scale can rank first in the world.
Together with musicals, which have been positioned as art categories, japanese theatre can be divided into four categories: classical drama, commercial drama, drama and musicals. As far as drama is concerned, since its birth, it has been developed mainly by troupe, and there is no special theater of its own. Drama troupes usually perform in rented theaters, which is different from those attached to theaters in western countries.
In recent years, there have been many production teams centered on directors and producers. They don't rely on the organizational form of the troupe, and independently produce theatrical performances, with the local people's association as its representative.