Haiyuza - Haiyuza

Name of the theater company. It was formed in February 1944 (Showa 19) at the end of World War II by Sugisaku Aoyama, Eijiro Higashino, Eitaro Ozawa, and Chieko Higashiyama, reflecting on the left-wing theater that had tended to neglect the skills of actors. At the time, Koreya Senda was banned from theatrical activities, so he did not officially participate. The first official performance was Gogol's "The Inspector General" in March 1946, and after that, in addition to general and regional performances, the company engaged in a wide range of activities such as Haiyuza Children's Theater, Creative Drama Research Group, and Sunday Theater, quickly becoming a leading theater company in the postwar new theater world. During that time, the company achieved great success with productions of works by Mafune Yutaka, Tanaka Chikao, Abe Kobo, Koyama Yushi, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Brecht, and others. In 1949, it established an affiliated actor training school, which had produced about 600 actors by the time it closed in 1967. Its graduates have been active in the modern theater world, including satellite theater companies of Haiyuza, such as Seinenza, Nakama, Shinjinkai, and the former Haiyu Shogekijo. However, after Ozawa left the company in 1969, Ichihara Etsuko, Nakamura Atsuo, and others left in 1971, and the company's activities began to lose vitality. Although Masumi Toshikiyo rose to prominence, the company was at a turning point due to the lack of progress of young directors. After Senda's death in 1994, the company began to employ outside directors, revitalizing its activities. In April 1954, the company built the Haiyuza Theater (capacity 400), its first permanent theater for new plays since Tsukiji Small Theater, in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo, with its own funds, and used it as the base of its activities, but due to deterioration it was reborn as a theater within a building (capacity 300) in September 1980. Currently, the Haiyuza Theater is a separate organization from the company.

[Yoshio Ozasa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

劇団名。第二次世界大戦末期の1944年（昭和19）2月、青山杉作、東野英治郎、小沢栄太郎、東山千栄子らが、俳優の技術を軽視しがちであったそれまでの左翼演劇の反省にたって結成。当時千田是也(これや)は演劇活動を禁止されていたため表向きは不参加であった。正式な第1回公演は46年3月のゴーゴリ作『検察官』で、以後しばらく一般公演や地方公演のほか俳優座こどもの劇場、創作劇研究会、日曜劇場など多彩な活動を展開し、たちまち戦後新劇界のリーダー的な劇団になった。その間、真船豊(まふねゆたか)、田中千禾夫(ちかお)、安部公房(あべこうぼう)、小山祐士(ゆうし)、シェークスピア、チェーホフ、ブレヒトなどの諸作の上演で高い舞台成果をあげ、49年には付属の俳優養成所を設けて、67年の閉鎖までに約600名の俳優を送り出した。その出身者は青年座、仲間、新人会、旧俳優小劇場などの俳優座の衛星劇団をはじめ、広く新劇界に活躍している。しかし、69年に小沢が退団したのに続き、71年に市原悦子、中村敦夫(あつお)らの大量退団者を出して以降はとかく劇団活動に生気を失うようになり、増見利清(ますみとしきよ)の台頭があるものの若手演出家の伸び悩みと相まって、次の曲り角にたった。94年（平成6）の千田の死後は外部の演出家を起用し始め、活動を再活性化させている。1954年（昭和29）4月には東京都港区六本木に、築地(つきじ)小劇場以来の新劇の常設劇場「俳優座劇場」（定員約400）を自力で建設、劇団活動の拠点としたが、老朽化に伴い80年9月にビルの中の劇場（定員300）として生まれ変わった。現在、俳優座劇場は劇団とは別組織。

［大笹吉雄］

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