Menshibai - Masked play

Japanese: 面芝居 - めんしばい

Local kyogen is performed wearing masks. There are mask plays of Kagura in the Kanto region and mask plays of Joruri in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions, and they were actively performed at festivals and Obon from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. In the Kanto region, Sato Kagura troupes perform it as sideshow entertainment, and they perform parodies of Kabuki Kyogen plays with lines (Sato Kagura is a silent drama). In the Chugoku and Shikoku regions, they are performed by a single person to accompany Joruri, changing masks and costumes for each character appearing in the Joruri, and they do not speak lines as they hold the mask in their mouth. All of these performing arts were devised to allow common people to easily enjoy Kabuki and Ningyo Joruri.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

仮面をつけて演じる地狂言。関東の神楽の面芝居と，中国，四国地方の浄瑠璃による面芝居があり，江戸時代末期から明治にかけて祭りや盆に盛んに行われた。関東では里神楽の社中が余興芸として行い，歌舞伎狂言のパロディ化した演目などをせりふ付きで演じた(里神楽は黙劇)。中国，四国地方では浄瑠璃に合わせて1人で演じ，浄瑠璃に登場する人物に合わせてそのつど面と衣装を替え，面を口にくわえるのでせりふはしゃべらない。いずれも庶民が歌舞伎や人形浄瑠璃を手軽に楽しむべく考案された芸能である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Exemption - Menjo

>>: Cotton seed oil - Menjitsuyu (English spelling)