Soushishibai - Soushishibai

Theater was started by the Liberal Party's heroes in the early Meiji period. It is also called Shosei-shibai and became the source of the later Shinpa theater. Since the issuance of the Security Ordinance in 1887 (Meiji 20), the government's suppression of political movements has become more severe, and political speeches have been completely banned. The Liberal Party's heroes decided to exploit the blind spots of the authorities' crackdown and promote the idea of ​​freedom and civil rights through theater, and to enlighten the masses. In December 1888, Sudou Sadanori, Kanbara Seizaburou, Yokota Kinma and others held their first performance at the Shinmachi-za Theater in Osaka under the name of the "Dai-Nippon Soshi Kairyo Theater Association." Since then, many young people have participated in political activities under the pretense of theater, and as the times have changed, some of them, such as Kawakami Otojiro, Fujisawa Asajiro, and Sato Toshizo, have established themselves as professional actors in the theater world. The terms soshi actor or shosei actor originally referred to hard-line actors from the intellectual class, as opposed to the older school of actors such as kabuki actors, but as their art became more refined, this came to be known as shinpa actors.

[Noriko Matsumoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治前期に自由党壮士たちによって始められた演劇。書生芝居ともいい、後の新派劇発生の源流となった。1887年（明治20）の保安条令発布以来、政府の政治運動弾圧は厳しさを加え、政談演説が全面的に禁止された。そこで自由党壮士たちは官憲の取締りの盲点をつき、演劇を通じて自由民権思想を鼓吹し、大衆を啓蒙(けいもう)しようと思い立った。88年12月に、角藤定憲(すどうさだのり)、神原清三郎、横田金馬らが「大日本壮士改良演劇会」の名のもとに、大阪の新町座で最初の興行を催した。それ以来多くの若者たちが演劇に名を借りた政治活動に参加したが、時代の推移とともに彼らのなかから川上音二郎(おとじろう)、藤沢浅二郎(あさじろう)、佐藤歳三(としぞう)らが職業俳優として劇壇に確実な地位を築いていった。壮士俳優または書生俳優という呼び名は、歌舞伎(かぶき)など旧派の俳優に対して、知識階級出身の硬派の俳優という意味をもっていたが、彼らの芸が洗練されるにつれて新派俳優へと変わっていったのである。

［松本伸子］

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