Benten Kozo is a play written by Kawatake Mokuami (1816-93) who was famous for his thieves-and-villians plays. His sewamono often reflected the decadence and corruption of the time.
In this play, only two important sections are retained from the original: 'The Hamamatsuya Kimono Store' 浜松屋見せ先の場 and 'Inase River' 稲瀬川勢揃いの場. Benten Kozo Kikunosuke (a coincidence the actor who played the role when I watched it was also called Kikunosuke...) is a member of a gang of thieves led by Nippon Daemon. Benten and another member, disguise tehmselves as the daughter of a samurai and her servant. As the enter the kimono store to examine the cloths, Benten takes out a piece of cloth, picks it up again and puts it in his kimono. Accused of shoplifting, Benten is hit by the clerk with an abacus (ouch!). When he proves that the cloth was bought somewhere else, the clerk apologises and the retainer, Nango, demands a sum of money to compensate.
At that moment, they are interrupted by a samurai called Tamashima Itto, who is actually Nippon Daemon. He accuses the two as extortionists and that Benten is in fact not a woman but a man. It is this scene where the beautiful maiden slips the kimono from his left arm and shoulder to reveal a tatto with a cherry blossom. Apparently this symbolised something erotic or homoerotic in those days but don't ask me about this...anyway, the climax here is when the 'beautiful maiden' changes from a refined lady to a sneering thief. Mm.....
In the fourth scene at the Inase River, Benten and the other thieves are chased by the police. They line up on the hanamichi 花道 in colorful kimonos. They strike mie poses as they strut onto the main stage, and speak flowery words of self-introduction.
What striked me as interesting was the lack of music used, it was simply narrative. With little music and much narrative, the story was developed well with full concentration focused on the actor's ability, especially in act 1. |
