Taking traditional plots beyond the traditional theatre: Some modern versions of Ataka/Kanjinchō

Abstract

This paper deals with the borrowing and adaptation of established plots from the traditional performing arts for presentation in modern film and theatre. It aims to show some of the effects of such re‐use of traditional plots. It maintains that repeating a plot shapes audience understanding of that plot, reinforcing some familiar elements and attracting attention to new material which may have been added. It holds that audiences are likely to relate easily to familiar plots, and so to respond to new statements which are made through their repetition. The focus is on two modern versions of the same traditional plot, referred to as the Ataka/Kanjinchō plot: one a film directed by Kurosawa, the other a shin‐kabuki play by Noguchi. Their relation to the traditional versions is set out, and each work is placed in the context of the time in which it was composed.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 35 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.