Comrades - Doushi no hitobito

A play by Yamamoto Yuzo. Two acts. Published in the May 1923 issue of Kaizo. It was first performed at the Hogakuza Theatre in March 1925 by Onoe Kikugoro VI and Nakamura Kichiemon I. The play is set on a ship from the evening to the night of May 1, 1862, which is escorting Satsuma samurai Koreeda Bansuke and others who were defeated after taking part in the Teradaya Incident to Satsuma (Kagoshima). Tanaka Kawachinosuke and Samanosuke, father and son, vassals of Nakayama Dainagon who also took part in the incident, are also imprisoned in a separate room in the bottom of the ship, but Koreeda, who is close to the father and son, arrives there on the orders of the Satsuma clan to kill them. The Satsuma clan, which was struggling with its relationship with the shogunate, tried to repair it by sacrificing father and son. The anguish of comrades who were forced to kill one another, especially Koreeda's, and the relationship between Kawachisuke and his son are depicted with a streamlined structure, making this one of the masterpieces of Taisho period drama.

[Yoshio Ozasa]

"'Yuzo Yamamoto Complete Works 2' (1976, Shinchosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

山本有三の戯曲。二幕。『改造』1923年（大正12）5月号に発表。25年3月に6世尾上(おのえ)菊五郎、初世中村吉右衛門(きちえもん)らにより邦楽座で初演。寺田屋事件に加担し敗れた是枝万介(これえだばんすけ)ら薩摩(さつま)藩士を、薩摩（鹿児島）に護送する文久(ぶんきゅう)2年5月1日の夕刻から夜にかけての船中が舞台。薩藩の士とは別の船底の一室に、同事件に加わった中山大納言(だいなごん)の家臣田中河内介(かわちのすけ)・磋磨介(さまのすけ)父子も監禁されているが、そこへ父子と親しい是枝が薩藩の命を帯びて父子殺害にくる。幕府との関係を苦慮した薩藩が父子を犠牲に、その修復を謀ろうとしたのである。同志を殺すはめになる同志の人々の苦悩、なかでも是枝のそれと、河内介父子の対応がむだのない構成で描かれ、大正戯曲を代表する名作の一つである。

［大笹吉雄］

『『山本有三全集2』（1976・新潮社）』

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