Directed by

Japanese: 演出 - えんしゅつ

The role of overseeing each creative department of a theatrical work that is performed in front of an audience is called directing, and the person who oversees this is the director. The director's role begins with reviewing the performance script, and then specifically directs and oversees the creative process, integrating the capabilities of each department, such as acting, set, lighting, costumes, music, choreography, and effects, with a certain artistic intent, until it is established on stage. Generally, the stage manager is responsible for overseeing what is happening on stage after the first day of performance. Directing began to become important in the modern era, when each department began to specialize.

In English, it is called "produce" (the production and staging of a play) or "stage direct" (the direction and supervision of a stage), and the director is often called "director." In French, it is called "mise en scène" (stage production), and in Chinese, it is called "taoyen." In Japan, it was translated as "stage manager" until the end of the Taisho era, but eventually, during the Tsukiji Little Theater era, the translation "direction" gradually became established to distinguish it from stage manager as a professional function, and later spread to the fields of film, radio, and television. Furthermore, the concept of "production," which has economic responsibility, has become common in Europe, the United States, and Japan.

Before the modern era, the directorial role was assumed by the author or leading actor of the performing troupe, or by a collaboration between the two. Aeschylus, the father of ancient Greek tragedy, was not only the author but also the chorus leader and actor, and was responsible for the practical aspects of the staging, such as costumes, masks, and equipment, as well as the progress of rehearsals, in other words, directing, while Sophocles is said to have delegated these roles to the chorus leader. Medieval paintings show that in medieval religious plays, these roles were likely carried out by monks who oversaw the performance. From the Renaissance onwards, the role of director was assumed by the author, actor, and theater company leader, as in the case of Shakespeare and Molière. In Noh and Kabuki, the head actor of a troupe doubled as the director.

In 1860, Archduke Georg II (1826-1914) of Germany built his own court theater in Meiningen, where he also served as director. He created a collective ensemble system that rejected the traditional star system of leading actors, and reformed the stage equipment to create a three-dimensional stage structure. He then organized a European tour of the Meiningen Duke's Theater (1874-1890), which had a major impact on the European theater world. This was the time when modern naturalistic plays such as Ibsen's A Doll's House (1878) were born, and the naturalistic theater movement, represented by the founding of the Free Theater by André Antoine in France (1887), developed in various countries. In other words, with the establishment of modern naturalistic theater at the end of the 19th century, stage mechanisms became more complex, and the directing function to oversee them was established. After that, excellent directors such as Stanislavsky of the Moscow Art Theater appeared in various countries, and they brought their own directing ideas to the stage. Some, such as Britain's Gordon Craig, even went so far as to claim absolute control over the direction of the production.

In Japan, as the theatrical modernization movement led by the Literary Arts Association and the Free Theatre at the end of the Meiji period intensified, modern directing functions were established by Shoyo Tsubouchi, Hogetsu Shimamura, Kaoru Osanai and others, and with the founding of the Tsukiji Little Theatre at the end of the Taisho period (1924), the foundations of directing that continue to this day were laid. Thus, from the 20th century onwards, stage creation came to be centered on the director. Meanwhile, in opposition to the strengthening of directorial authority, there was also an increased demand for actors to establish their own subjectivity.

In contrast to the new theater movement, small theater groups from the 1960s onwards saw the emergence of playwrights, actors, directors and company leaders, such as Kara Juro, and the tendency for playwrights and company leaders to be in charge of direction, such as Hirata Oriza (1962-), and there has been a growing trend towards the integration of playwriting and direction. Representative directors of the early 21st century include Suzuki Tadashi (1939-), general director of Shizuoka Prefectural Theater, Asari Keita (1933-2018) of the Shiki Theater Company, and the freelance Ninagawa Yukio.

[Hideji Ishizawa]

"The History of Directing, by Paul Blanchard, translated by Ando Shinya (1961, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Is Dialogue Possible in the Theater? - Notes from a Director, by Kimura Koichi (1985, Ikadasha)" ▽ "What is Theater, by Suzuki Tadashi (1988, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "How to Direct - Towards Reliable Play-Making, by Noda Yuji (1992, Seiunsha)" ▽ "The Encounter Between East and West Theater, by Sang Kyung Lee, translated by Tanaka Tokuichi (1993, Shindokushosha)" ▽ "The Director's Ideas, by Suzuki Tadashi (1994, Ohta Publishing)" ▽ "The Changes in European Theater - From Georg II to Strehler, edited by Yamauchi Tomio (1994, Hakuohsha)" ▽ "The Age of Directing" by Sasaki Kenichi (1994, Shunjusha)" ▽ "What is Theater?" edited by Inoue Hisashi (1997, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Asari Keita's Four Seasons: Collected Writings 2: The Theater is My Lover - Selected Directing Notes" by Asari Keita (1999, Keio University Press)" ▽ "Society on the Stage" by Kazama Ken (2000, Misuzu Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

観客の前で公演される劇作品の創造各部門を統括する役割を演出といい、その統括者が演出家である。演出家の役割は、上演台本の検討に始まり、演技、装置、照明、衣装、音楽、振付け、効果など各部門の能力を一定の芸術的意図のもとに総合し、舞台に定着させるまでの創造作業を具体的に指揮、総括する。なお、公演初日以降の舞台上の統括は舞台監督の責任となるのが通例である。演出が重要視されだしたのは、各部門が専門分化する近代以降である。

　英語ではプロデュースproduce（劇作品の制作、上演）、またはステージ・ディレクトstage direct（舞台の指揮、監督）といい、演出家をディレクターdirectorとよぶことが多い。フランス語ではミザンセーヌmise en scène（舞台化）の語をあて、中国では「導演(タオイエン)」の語をあてる。日本では大正末ごろまで「舞台監督」の訳語をあてていたが、やがて舞台監督と職能的に区別するために築地(つきじ)小劇場時代に「演出」の訳語がしだいに定着し、その後、映画、ラジオ、テレビなどの分野にも波及した。また「プロデュース」は経済的責任をもつ「制作」の概念が欧米や日本で一般化してきた。

　近代以前、演出機能を担う者は、上演集団の作者や指導的俳優であり、また両者の協同作業によったとされる。古代ギリシア悲劇の父アイスキロスは、作者にとどまらず合唱隊長、俳優も兼ね、衣装、仮面、装置など舞台化の実際面や稽古(けいこ)進行の責任つまりは演出を担当し、ソフォクレスはそれらを合唱隊長に委任したと伝えられる。中世の宗教劇では上演監督者の僧侶(そうりょ)がそれらの役割を担当したらしいことを中世絵画は伝えている。ルネサンス以降は、シェークスピアやモリエールのように作者兼俳優兼劇団主宰者が演出の役割を担当した。能や歌舞伎(かぶき)では一座の座頭(ざがしら)役者が演出家を兼ねていた。

　1860年、ドイツのゲオルク2世大公（1826―1914）がマイニンゲン市に自ら宮廷劇場を建て、劇場長をも務め、従来のスター・システム的な主役中心主義を否定した集団的アンサンブル・システムをつくりだし、装置も改革して舞台造形の立体化を図った。そしてマイニンゲン公劇団の全ヨーロッパ公演（1874～1890）を実現させ、大きな衝撃をヨーロッパの演劇界に与えた。当時はイプセン作『人形の家』（1878）など近代の自然主義的戯曲が生まれた時期でもあり、ついでフランスのアンドレ・アントアーヌの自由劇場創立（1887）に代表される自然主義的演劇運動が各国で展開される時代でもあった。つまり、19世紀末の近代自然主義演劇成立とともに、舞台機構も複雑化し、それらを統括する演出機能が確立されていったのである。以後モスクワ芸術座のスタニスラフスキーら、各国に優れた演出家が輩出し、それぞれの演出理念を舞台上に展開した。なかにはイギリスのゴードン・クレイグのように、演出の絶対的支配権を主張する者まで現れた。

　日本では明治末期の文芸協会や自由劇場による演劇近代化運動の深まりにつれ、坪内逍遙(しょうよう)、島村抱月(ほうげつ)、小山内薫(おさないかおる)らにより近代的演出機能が確立され、大正末期の築地小劇場創立（1924）とともに、現在に至る演出の基盤がつくられた。こうして20世紀以降、演出者中心の舞台創造が行われるようになった。一方、演出権の強化に対抗して演技者の主体確立を叫ぶ主張も高まった。

　新劇系に対し、小劇場系といわれる1960年代以降の若手劇団には、唐十郎(からじゅうろう)のように作者兼俳優兼演出者兼劇団主宰者が現れ、平田オリザ（1962―　）のように作者および劇団主宰者が演出を担当することが多くなり、作・演出の一体化傾向が強まっている。21世紀初頭の代表的演出家としては、静岡県立劇場総監督の鈴木忠志(ただし)（1939―　）、劇団四季の浅利慶太(あさりけいた)（1933―2018）、フリーの蜷川幸雄(にながわゆきお)などがいる。

［石澤秀二］

『ポール・ブランシャール著、安堂信也訳『演出の歴史』（1961・白水社）』▽『木村光一著『劇場で対話は可能か――演出家のノート』（1985・いかだ社）』▽『鈴木忠志著『演劇とは何か』（1988・岩波書店）』▽『野田雄司著『演出のすすめ方――確かな劇創りに』（1992・青雲社）』▽『サン・キョン・リー著、田中徳一訳『東西演劇の出会い　能、歌舞伎の西洋演劇への影響』（1993・新読書社）』▽『鈴木忠志著『演出家の発想』（1994・太田出版）』▽『山内登美雄編『ヨーロッパ演劇の変貌――ゲオルク二世からストレーレルまで』（1994・白凰社）』▽『佐々木健一著『演出の時代』（1994・春秋社）』▽『井上ひさし編『演劇ってなんだろう』（1997・筑摩書房）』▽『浅利慶太著『浅利慶太の四季　著述集2　劇場は我が恋人――演出ノート選』（1999・慶応義塾大学出版会）』▽『風間研著『舞台の上の社会』（2000・みすず書房）』