Namiki Shōzō I (並木正三) (1730–1773) was a prominent Japanese playwright who produced roughly 100 works for ''
bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
'' (puppet theater) and for ''
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
''. Shōzō is also credited with inventing the revolving stage (回り舞台, ''mawaributai''), one of many
tricks of stagecraft used extensively in ''kabuki'', and with popularizing the use of trapdoors (セリ上げ, ''seriage'').
Shōzō left ''bunraku'' in 1751; adapting plays from ''bunraku'' to ''kabuki'' was a very common practice, and it is likely that many of Shōzō's kabuki plays began as puppet productions.
His roughly one hundred plays were mostly ''
jidai-mono'' (時代物, historical plays), and include ''Keisei ama no hagoromo'' (The Feathery Garment from Heaven, 1753), ''Sanjikkoku yobune no hajimari'' (The Beginning of the Heavy Cargo Ships on the Yodo River, 1758), and ''Sanzen-sekai yarikuri ōrai'' (Kin'emon the Notorious Pirate, 1772).
References
*Takaya, Ted T. (1985). "Namiki Shōzō." Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
See also
*
Namiki Shōzō II
Namiki Shōzō II (並木正三) (died 1807) was a ''kabuki'' playwright and relative of the more prominent Namiki Shōzō I Namiki Shōzō I (並木正三) (1730–1773) was a prominent Japanese playwright who produced roughly 100 works for ''bunr ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namiki Shozo I
Kabuki playwrights
Bunraku
1730 births
1773 deaths
18th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights
Japanese writers of the Edo period
18th-century Japanese people