Benten Kozo, a thief, disguised himself as a beautiful daughter of a samurai family and entered a shop to steal a large sum of money by tricking its operator. On the verge of taking away the money, however, he was revealed as a man. When asked for his identity, Benten Kozo takes off his ladies kimono defiantly and starts introducing himself frankly.
"Shirazaa itte kikaseyasho" ("If you don't know, I'll tell you"), so he begins.
Long-drawn-out lines in a seven-and-five syllable meter were written by the play's author, Kawatake Mokuami, for Onoe Kikugoro V (Ichimura Uzaemon XIII at the time), who played the role of Benten Kozo when the play was first performed. In the latter half of the lines, Kikugoro's real name, "Terajima," and other elements are skillfully woven into the lines.
The role of Benten Kozo has been cherished and inherited by Otowaya, the stage name of the Onoe Kikugoro family, for generations -- from Kikugoro V and VI, Onoe Baiko, the present Kikugoro VII to the current Onoe Kikunosuke. This summer, Onoe Ukon, 27, who is a great-grandson of Kikugoro VI, took up the role of Benten Kozo for the first time in a program that he independently produced.
"The most basic of basic skills is to sing by delivering lines with intonation and melody. Having done that, I've realized that this is a musical theater," Ukon said.
Since childhood, he has been familiar enough with these lines to be able to recite them. But when he took the stage after being taught afresh from scratch by Kikugoro, he felt keenly that there is a big difference between seeing and actually doing. There were many "must-do point chances to show my skills," such as how to take off a kimono and how to handle a pipe. An exchange of parting shots between Benten Kozo and his partner, Nango Rikimaru, which was played by Bando Hikosaburo, was also crucial.
"I understood well that the play is composed with the 'If you don't know' line at its climax," Ukon said.
Playing the role of Benten Kozo, who transforms back into a man from being a disguised woman, is difficult unless the performing actor is trained to play both tachiyaku (male roles) and onnagata (female roles).
"Onnagata roles require me to pay more attention to every single movement than tachiyaku roles do," Ukon said. "Changing from a woman into a man on the stage is a liberating and refreshing moment. It feels like I'm also connected with the exhilarating feeling of the audience members."
In the play, Benten Kozo grew up on Enoshima island. To prepare for the role, Ukon visited the island in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.
"He grew up in the sea breeze on the island. I thought Benten's briskness came from here," he said.
Ukon is apparently determined to play this role someday at major venues, such as the Kabukiza Theatre, by cherishing the role's image that he captured when performing it for the first time.
-- Morishige covers traditional performing arts.
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