New Interpretations and Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Plays in Japan from 2020 to 2023

Shoichiro Kawai

doi:10.18778/2083-8530.30.02

Authors

Shoichiro Kawai University of Tokyo, Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.30.02

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Keywords:

Shakespeare, adaptation, Kyogen, Nô, Kabuki, Bunraku, Hamlet, Falstaff, traditional Japanese theatre, Mansai Nomura, Kôki Mitani, Thirteen Vassals of Kamakura Shogun

Abstract

This essay examines some notable Shakespearean productions and adaptations in Japan from 2020 to 2023. The main focus is on a Hamlet production by Mansai Nomura, a Kyogen performer, in March 2023; it was an amalgamation of the traditional Japanese theatres, such as Kyogen, Nô, Kabuki, and Bunraku. Mansai’s aspiration to produce Hamlet, utilizing all the elements of traditional Japanese art forms, began twenty years ago, when he played Hamlet in Jonathan Kent’s production in London and in Tokyo. He re-examined the text and offered a completely new interpretation of a scene, giving the play a fresh dimension. Moreover, this essay examines other recent Shakespeare productions and adaptations, including my two new plays based on Shakespeare, as well as Kôki Mitani’s Thirteen Vassals of Kamakura Shogun, a serial historical TV drama, broadcast by NHK (Japan’s version of the BBC).

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Author Biography

Shoichiro Kawai, University of Tokyo, Japan

Shoichiro Kawai received his Ph.Ds from the University of Cambridge and the University of Tokyo. He is Professor of English at the University of Tokyo and the former President of the Shakespeare Society of Japan. He has translated 17 of Shakespeare’s plays and worked with notable directors such as Greg Doran, Simon Godwin, Jonathan Kent, and Yukio Ninagawa. He has adapted Shakespeare’s plays into Kyogen and Bunraku. He also directed and produced Much Ado, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, and King Lear. His publications include chapters in The Routledge Handbook of Shakespeare and Interface (2022), The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare (2016), The Routledge Companion to Directors’ Shakespeare (2008) and articles in Shakespeare Survey 62 (2009) and Shakespeare Survey 64 (2011).

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