Student Theatre

Japanese: 学生演劇 - がくせいえんげき

A type of amateur theater and school theater. Generally, it refers to theatrical activities by university students, and is distinguished from school plays by elementary and junior high school students and high school plays by high school students. School plays are expressive activities under the direct guidance of teachers as part of children's education, while high school plays are mainly theatrical activities by teachers and students in collaboration. However, student theater has a social scope that aims to be a cultural and artistic movement as a part of club activities run independently by students. Therefore, it has strong ties with professional (occupational) theater companies, and has been one of the main sources of new theater companies since the end of the Meiji period. Some university theater departments that aim to train professional theater people can also achieve a level close to that of professional theater companies. In the United States, where there are many university theater departments, they play the role of local community theaters based on attached experimental theaters.

[Tsutomu Ohshima]

History of student theatre

The history of student theater in Japan can be roughly divided into four periods.

The first period (late Meiji to Taisho era) was a period of flowering that occurred in conjunction with the early new theater movement. In particular, student participation and support in the new theater movement, including the Bungei Kyokai (established in 1906) and Jiyugekijo (established in 1908), was a major force in promoting modern theater in Japan and determined the direction of student theater thereafter. This extended to the Tsukiji Little Theater, and it can be said that Hijikata Yoshi and Tomoda Kyosuke, for example, started out in student theater.

The second period (1925-1945) was a blank period, during which only a few activities could be noted, such as accompanying and supporting left-wing theater (proletarian theater) before the Second World War, and some participation in children's theater and rural theater during the war. The only exceptions during the war were Michio Kato and Hiroshi Akutagawa, who were based in the New Theater Research Society at Keio University.

The third period (1945-1960) was a period of upsurge, and with the momentum of democratization after the war, it showed unprecedented growth and expansion, and played a part in supporting the revival of new theater, along with the thriving independent theater (workplace theater). Following the example of the new theater companies, the acting system based on the Stanislavski system was mainstream, and there was active exchange between theater companies beyond the school level, and large-scale productions comparable to those of professional theater companies were performed in competition, as well as ambitious works such as "Sanroku" (1954), a collaboration between Fukuda Yoshiyuki (Tokyo University Theater Research Society) and Fujita Asaya (Waseda University Free Stage). The Shiki Theater Company, founded in 1953 by Asari Keita and others, was based on the campus theater companies of Keio University and Tokyo University during this period.

The fourth period (around 1960 to the mid-1980s) was a time of transition. In the 1960s, student theatre also reached a major turning point as social conditions changed and students sought their own direction. One aspect of this was the demand for original plays rather than relying on existing repertoires. Furthermore, in the second half of the 1960s, small theatres (underground theatre) primarily based on student theatre companies rapidly rose to prominence and, under the banner of "anti-modern theatre," soon became a major force. For example, the Situation Theatre and Waseda Little Theatre (now SCOT) originated as student theatre companies at Meiji University and Waseda University, respectively.

[Tsutomu Ohshima]

From inside the campus to outside the campus -- an era of diversification

Inspired by this, the nature of student theater changed dramatically, and from the late 1970s to the 1980s, small theater companies by the second and third generations were born one after another, and they began to show diverse developments that competed with professional theater companies through extracurricular activities based on campus. Tsuka Kohei's Shibaraku Theater Company and Tsuka Kohei Office, Noda Hideki's Yume no Yuminsha Theater Company, and Kisaragi Koharu's Kiki Theater Company were born from the campus theater companies of Waseda University, Tokyo University, and Tokyo Woman's Christian University, respectively. However, in the 1990s, student theater also calmed down as the small theater movement calmed down, and theater company structures and activities that were once based or centered on a specific university tended to be decentralized, and the distinction between professional theater companies and student theater companies has also faded. It is no exaggeration to say that the term student theater is gradually becoming an empty word.

[Tsutomu Ohshima]

"New Theatre" by Shimomura Masao (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Postwar Theatre" by Suga Takayuki (1981, Asahi Publishing)" ▽ "Dramatic Renaissance" edited by Ogita Akihiko (1983, Libroport)" ▽ "Contemporary Japanese Theatre" by Ogita Akihiko (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Contemporary Japanese Theatre History" by Ozasa Yoshio, 8 volumes (1985-, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "The Origins of Contemporary Theatre - A History of the Theatrical Spirit of the 1960s" by Saeki Takayuki (1999, Rengashobō Shinsha)

[Reference items] | Small Theater Movement | Shingeki

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

アマチュア演劇、学校演劇の一分野。一般に、大学生による演劇活動をいい、小学生・中学生による学校劇、高校生による高校演劇と区別される。学校劇は児童教育の一環として教師の直接指導による表現活動を目的とし、高校演劇は教師と生徒の共同作業による演劇活動を主とするが、学生演劇は、学生の自主的運営によるクラブ活動の一部門として、文化・芸術運動を目ざす社会的広がりをもつ。したがって専門（職業）劇団とのつながりも強く、明治末以来、新劇団の主要な供給源の一つとなっている。また専門演劇人の養成を目的とする大学演劇科の一部では、専門劇団に近い水準を示すこともある。とくに大学演劇科の数の多いアメリカでは、付設の実験劇場を拠点に地域のコミュニティ・シアターの役割を果たしている。

［大島　勉］

学生演劇の歴史

日本における学生演劇の歴史は、ほぼ四つの時期に分けて考えられる。

　第1期（明治末～大正期）は、初期の新劇運動に随伴して生じた開花期である。とくに文芸協会（1906設立）、自由劇場（1908設立）をはじめとする新劇運動への学生の参加および支援は、日本の近代劇推進の大きな力となるとともに、以後の学生演劇の方向を決定づけた。これは築地(つきじ)小劇場にまで及び、たとえば土方与志(ひじかたよし)、友田恭助(きょうすけ)などは学生演劇出身といってよい。

　第2期（1925～45）は空白期であり、第二次世界大戦前における左翼演劇（プロレタリア演劇）への同伴者的な支援活動、戦時中における児童劇・農村演劇などへの一部の参加があげられるにすぎない。わずか戦時中の例外として、慶応義塾大学の新演劇研究会に拠(よ)った加藤道夫、芥川比呂志(あくたがわひろし)らがいる。

　第3期（1945～60ころ）は高揚期であり、戦後の民主化の気運を受けて空前の高まりと広がりをみせ、自立演劇（職場演劇）の活況と並んで、新劇復興を支える一翼を担った。新劇団に倣ってスタニスラフスキー・システムによる演技体系が主流を占め、学校単位を超えた劇団相互の交流も活発で、専門劇団に匹敵する大作が競って上演されるとともに、福田善之(よしゆき)（東京大学演劇研究会）とふじたあさや（早稲田(わせだ)大学自由舞台）の合作『富士山麓(さんろく)』（1954）のような意欲作も生まれた。1953年（昭和28）浅利慶太(あさりけいた)らが結成した劇団四季はこの期の慶大・東大の学内劇団を母胎とする。

　第4期（1960ころ～80なかば）は転換期である。1960年代に入ると、社会情勢の変化に伴って学生演劇も大きな曲り角を迎え、独自の方向が模索された。既成のレパートリーに頼らず、創作戯曲が求められたのもその一端である。さらに60年代後半になると、学生劇団を主要母胎とする小劇場（アンダーグラウンド演劇）が急速に台頭し、「反新劇」を旗印にやがて一大勢力を形成するに至った。たとえば状況劇場、早稲田小劇場（現SCOT(スコット)）は、それぞれ明治大学、早大の学生劇団を起点とする。

［大島　勉］

学内から学外へ――多様化の時代

これに刺激されて学生演劇のあり方も大きく変貌(へんぼう)し、さらに1970年代後半から80年代にかけて、これを追う第二、第三世代による小劇団が相次いで生まれ、学内を拠点にした学外活動によって、専門劇団に対抗する多様な展開をみせるようになった。つかこうへいの劇団暫(しばらく)・つかこうへい事務所、野田秀樹(ひでき)の劇団夢の遊眠社、如月小春(きさらぎこはる)の劇団綺畸(きき)が、それぞれ早大、東大、東京女子大の学内劇団から生まれた。しかし90年代に入ると、小劇場運動の鎮静化とともに学生演劇も落ち着きをみせ、かつての特定の大学を拠点ないし主軸とする劇団構成や演劇活動は分散化の傾向にあり、また専門劇団と学生劇団の区別は薄れてきた。学生演劇の用語はしだいに空語化しつつあるといって過言でない。

［大島　勉］

『下村正夫著『新劇』（岩波新書）』▽『菅孝行著『戦後演劇』（1981・朝日出版社）』▽『扇田昭彦編『劇的ルネッサンス』（1983・リブロポート）』▽『扇田昭彦著『日本の現代演劇』（岩波新書）』▽『大笹吉雄著『現代日本演劇史』全8巻（1985～　・白水社）』▽『佐伯隆幸著『現代演劇の起源――60年代演劇的精神史』（1999・れんが書房新社）』

[参照項目] | 小劇場運動 | 新劇

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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