Weasel - Weasel

A play by Mafune Yutaka. Three acts. Published in Gekibungaku in June 1934 (Showa 9), it was first performed by the Sosakuza Theatre Company in September of the same year, directed by Kubota Mantaro. The play is set in a remote village along an old road in the Tohoku region. Three years after the heir Manzaburo leaves home to work in the South Seas, his aged mother Okaji, who is guarding the old Daruma shop, which is on the verge of ruin, is visited by her younger sister Otori, who has run away from home and saved up some money. She tricks Manzaburo, who has returned to Japan, and takes over the shop. The dying Okaji screams at the decoy, "Damn, even if I die, I won't take care of you..." This is the author's breakthrough work, which depicts the fundamental human desires woven between relatives, with a unique dynamic delivery based on the Aizu dialect. It is heavily influenced by Irish literature.

[Tsutomu Ohshima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

真船豊(まふねゆたか)の戯曲。3幕。1934年（昭和9）6月『劇文学』に発表、同年9月久保田万太郎演出により創作座が初演。東北地方の旧街道沿いの一寒村が舞台。跡取りの万三郎が南洋に出稼ぎに行って3年目、没落寸前の旧家だるま屋を守る老母おかじのところへ、家出して小金をため込んだ妹おとりが現れ、やがて帰国した万三郎をだましてだるま屋を乗っ取る。瀕死(ひんし)のおかじはおとりに向かい、「……くそっ、し、死んでも、うう、うぬが世話になっかア……」と絶叫する。肉親同士の織り成す人間の欲望の根源的な姿を、会津方言を基盤にした力動感あふれる独自の台詞(せりふ)運びに定着した作者の出世作である。アイルランド文学の影響が濃い。

［大島　勉］

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