『漂流奇譚西洋劇』の劇中劇とロイヤル・イングリッシュ・オペラ・カンパニー

抄録

With the end of its isolation in 1854 and fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, Japan moved towards westernization. Following the new government's policy, an ambitious theater manager, Morita Kan'ya, became involved in an attempt to westernize Kabuki. In 1879, Kan'ya produced a new Kabuki play, The Wanderers' Strange Story: A Western Kabuki at his theater in Tokyo. This unusual Kabuki play dramatized the progress of a Japanese group travelling throughout the United States and Europe. In Paris, the main characters visited the Opéra and watched The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein by Offenbach, Daughter of the Regiment by Donizetti, and The Daughter of Madame Angot by Lecoq.

Unfortunately, this production was a commercial failure because the Japanese audience, who had never witnessed any theater other than traditional Kabuki, could not appreciate operatic singing.

A troupe known as the Royal English Opera Company performed these operas as plays within a play. The troupe's leader, Howard Vernon, and the prima-donna Elcia May were from Australia. Before coming to Japan, the troupe visited British colonies. After their productions in Tokyo, Vernon and May returned to Australia and in 1880 appeared on stage at one of Melbourne's major theaters. Newspaper reviews indicated that their performance was well received in British colonies including Melbourne, Australia's theatrical center.