Kabuki A to Z:Shibaraku｜文化デジタルライブラリー

Shibaraku

【暫】

【SHIBARAKU】

“Shibaraku”. Ichikawa Danjuro 12th as Kamakura Gongoro. November, 1995 at Kabukiza Theatre.

One of the Kabuki-Juhachiban plays.
“Shibaraku” is said to have been performed by Ichikawa Danjuro 1st for the first time. It is Danjuro 2nd who have arranged the costumes close to the ones seen on stage today. The play deals with a simple story in which the leading character dressed in the Aragoto style appears on the Hanamichi by saying “Shibaraku, Shibaraku (for a moment, for a moment)” to save the people who are about to be killed by a villain called Uke.
“Shibaraku” has a rather different characteristic than other Kabuki-Juhachiban plays. During the Edo period, a scene derived from “Shibaraku” was among the repertoire for the Kaomise performance in November. In other words, a scene of saving the people about to be killed by a villain was performed every year, while the program and its characters were varied.
Another feature of “Shibaraku” is that many aspects of the Aragoto style can be found in the play, namely Keshogoe and Roppo.