Sun, Jan 06, 2008
'Scottish Plays'
Posted to Media category
On Neil Gaiman's site, I found links to some wonderfulessays by Teller (of Penn & Teller) about a truly kickass production of Macbeth that he is co-directing in New Jersey. The first relevant essay is dated 12/24/2006, and the performances will begin this month, so they cover a lot of the design and development of the production. And a lot of the joy of creativity.
They are doing all of the magic in the play as magic, all of the violence as violence. Like a horror movie on stage.
I wish I could see the production.
Earlier this week I spent a lot of time watching anime videos. I prefer to watch them subtitled, with the original Japanese dialog, which keeps me from working on the computer at the same time (which is how I watch most English language shows), so my arms had time to heal some of the accumulated RSI.
One of the series I watched was called "Ayakashi -- Samurai Horror Tales". It was an anthology of three arcs, each with different designers. The second arc, designed by Yoshitaka Amano (one of Japan's premiere horror illustrators), is Yotsuya Ghost Story.
In addition to portraying the story within the classic Kabuki play 'Yotsuya Kaidan', the anime tells the story about the Kabuki play (it purports to be narrated by the writer of the Kabuki play). 'Yotsuya Kaidan' is the Scottish Play of Japan: it is believed to be cursed (actors and production staff die, theaters burn down...), which is a little odd since the story is only very, very loosely based on a historical story about real people. (The anime mentions the few historical details that are known.)
Despite the risks the play has always been very popular, so it keeps being re-staged and adapted in various theatrical forms. Praying at a shrine once frequented by the heroine of the story is supposed to provide some protection...
After contemplating and portraying many layers of story and history: of the play itself and of the story in the play, the anime suggests that the curse exists because the audience wants it to exist, because the story is so very powerful. It's got everything: murders with swords and poisons, betrayals, mistaken identities, inadvertent incest, people being eaten by hordes of rats ... I wonder how they manage the rats on stage.
I assume the creators of the anime visited the Yotsuya family shrine.