Kabuki Reportoire

Kabuki works were written by professional dramatists called Kyogen-sakusha until Shin-kabuki (new Kabuki) began to be written by the authors and the dramatists from outside Kabuki in the Meiji period. There were multiple Kyogen-sakusha attached to each theater, and each Kabuki work was completed by a division of work among these multiple Kyogen-sakusha based on the plan made by the leading Kyogen-sakusha, who was called Tatesakusha.

First, before creating a new work, the Sekai, the theme that provides the frame for the work, is determined.

Sekai came from literary works, previous entertainments, and legends, in which there were characters very familiar to the audiences of the time, such as Minamoto Yoshitsune or the Soga brothers. The development of an outline including such elements as the background of the era, places, names, characters, the situation of each role in the dramatis personae, relationships between the dramatis personae, revenge, love, battles, etc., was then specified.

The Sekai selected was not necessarily limited to just one; multiple Sekai were sometimes combined. This method, called Naimaze, was a speciality of Tsuruya Namboku 4th. The freedom to create story settings was increased by this method, and the fantastic story development of which Namboku was fond, became possible.

After the Sekai has been determined, various plans appropriate to the original parts of the work are built in. These plans are called Shuko. Standard scenes such as migawari (substitution), koroshi (murder), enkiri (separation scenes), and the incidents occurred at that time such as real murders, robbery, and double suicides were built into the story. The content of each Shuko and the method used to build it into the story are directly related to the quality of the completed work. Therefore the Tatesakusha who selects the Shuko and makes the overall plan for the work, requires real ability.