Revolving stage - Mawaributai

A type of stage mechanism used in theaters. The stage floor is cut into a circle (called a bon) and rotated on a pole. It was originally invented to allow smooth changes of stage equipment. Later, the effectiveness of this mechanism was utilized in dramaturgy, and two parallel events occurring in different locations were shown by moving the stage back and forth multiple times. The prototype, a simple "spinning" mechanism, was already invented by Nakamura Denshichi during the Shotoku and Kyoho eras (1711-1736), but the form seen today is said to have originated in 1758 (8th year of the Horeki era) when Namiki Shōza I, a kyogen playwright from Osaka, invented and used it in his play "The Beginning of the Thirty Koku Boat." At the time, only the upper stage, which was placed on a flat floor, was rotated, but later the floorboards were cut and the system developed into one that rotated on the same plane as the stage. In modern times, they have all been powered by electricity, but before that they were moved by hand in a pit. That old-fashioned style remains intact at the former Konpira Grand Theater (commonly known as the Kanamaru-za) in Kotohira-cho, Nakatado-gun, Kagawa Prefecture, and is still in use.

[Yukio Hattori]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

劇場の舞台機構の一つ。舞台の床を円形に切り（これを盆(ぼん)とよぶ）、心棒によって回転させる機構で、初めは舞台装置の転換をスムーズに行う目的から創案された。のちには、その機構の効果を作劇に活用し、同時に並行して別の場所で起こっている二つの事件を、舞台を何度も往復させる方法で示すことも行われた。原型となる素朴な「ぶん回(まわ)し」は、すでに正徳(しょうとく)・享保(きょうほう)年間（1711～36）のころ、中村伝七によってくふうされていたが、今日みられる形式のものは、1758年（宝暦8）大坂の狂言作者初世並木正三(しょうざ)が『三十石艠始(さんじっこくよふねのはじまり)』でくふうして使ったのに始まるといわれている。そのときは平床の上に重ねた上舞台だけを回す「上回し」だったが、のちに床板を切って舞台と同一平面で回転させる形式に発達した。近代に入って、すべて電動式になったが、それ以前は奈落(ならく)で人が手で動かした。その古風な様式が香川県仲多度(なかたど)郡琴平(ことひら)町の旧金毘羅(こんぴら)大芝居（通称金丸(かなまる)座）にそのまま残っており、実際の使用も可能である。

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