Tsutsui Tokujirō (1881-1953) was a Japanese performer born in Osaka, Japan.
Career Tokujirō began his performance career at 19, performing in a shinpa troupe led by Fukui Mohei:23 In 1920 he joined a group of actors who were not satisfied with the work of , the artistic director of (New National Theatre).:23 Together they formed a new troupe, which toured the Kansai region, though they also had several shows in Asakusa.:23 As part of the troupe he 'established a solid reputation in swordplay dramas.:21
Western tour (1930-31) The Tsutsui Troupe was one of the first groups to bring traditional Japanese performance to the United States and Europe. His troupe performed in twenty-two countries,:3 with attendees including seminal directors such as Bertolt Brecht,:255 Jacques Copeau, Charles Dullin, and Vsevolod Meyerhold.:154, n.192
They had a repertoire of sixteen plays that were based on Kabuki plays 'in a mélange of styles with an emphasis on swordplay to appeal to audiences.'Rodman, Tara (2017) Altered Belonging: The Transnational Modern Dance of Itō Michio. (PhD Dissertation, Northwestern University). Available athttps://arch.library.northwestern.edu/concern/generic_works/c821gj87v Accessed 25 July 2020.:154, n.192 Four of the plays were presented only for Japanese residents in California, and were absent from the rest of the tour.:35 Tsutsui emphasised that he 'wanted to put the Western audience in the presence of the true Japanese theatre, such as the Japanese conceive it'.:135 Contemporary critics, however, questioned this authenticity, noting the number of changes Tsutsui made to traditional Japanese theatre.:136 These included the shortened length of the plays (which had to be under two hours),:33 the use of painted scenery and 'enormous stage settings' in a Western style, 'the troupe's replacement of onnagata', roles traditionally played by male transvestites, with actresses.:136
Selected performance locations DateCityCountryTheatreNotesReferenceFebruary 1930Los AngelesUnited StatesFigueroa TheatreUnder the production of Michio Itō:154March–April 1930New York CityUnited StatesBooth Theatre:3442 May–June 1930ParisFranceThéâtre PigalleAttended by Edwin Piscator.:68:13524 June 1930LondonEnglandGlobe Theatre18-25 August 1930ParisFranceApollo:1853-9 October 1930BerlinGermanyTheater des Westens Attended by Bertolt Brecht.:41:255
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