2003 Volume 41 Pages 59-81
In the historical context of modern Japanese theatre, Little Theatre in the 1980s has often been regarded as a break with, rather than the continuation of, the “traditional” angura, or underground theatre movement, that had started in the late 1960s. Proponents and detractors alike find many features that supposedly distinguish Little Theatre in the 1980s from its predecessors, without further consideration of the origin of such uniqueness. In order to see how different it really is, the present writer examines one of the unique features: metatheatricality. Is there any form of metatheatre in Japan that does not fit what Lionel Abel defines in his famous book, Metatheatre? If there is such a thing as “Japanese metatheatre,” what aspects of it are observed in the Little Theatre in the 1980s?
