“OKINAWA”: on the Drama Texts of OHTA Shogo

Abstract

Although a playwright and director OHTA Shogo (1939∼2007) had never been in Okinawa, he wrote three plays on Okinawa in his early days. They are Nine Scenes on the Bus (1969), The Breast of a Black Swallowtail (1970), and The Nocturne of Old Flowers (1974) remade from The Story of Flowers (1972). Why he could write them without visiting Okinawa? This paper will describe the point.

According to Ohta, three photoes inspired him to make those plays. It seems that “imaginary Okinawa” is more important for him than real one. The modern history of Okinawa was that of victims. After the Second World War, US Army had occupied Okinawa until 1972. It was just before its return to Japan that Ohta wrote these three plays. Actually, Ohta directed the plays in anti-realistic style. He knew well that only the Okinawans could write their own tragedy realistically. So he dared to use symbolic expressions. After that, his idea of the symbolism developed to his new original style; “Silent drama” in 80's, which was most aesthetic style in Japanese avant-garde theatre.