Rashomon (play)
Encyclopedia
Though Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon
is the most famous instance, Akutagawa's stories have also been adapted for the stage.
's two short stories "Rashomon"
(1915 - AKA "The Rashomon Gate") and "In a Grove
" (1921 - AKA "The Cedar Grove") were famously fused and adapted as the basis for Akira Kurosawa
's award-winning film Rashomon
(1950), screenplay by Akutagawa and frequent collaborator Shinobu Hashimoto
. In 1951 the film won an honorary International Academy Award, following the success of the film in winning a Golden Lion
award at the Venice Film Festival
in the same year. The Kurosawa and Hashimoto screenplay deviates from Akutagawa's original stories in a number of ways, most notably by allowing a note of hope to triumph over Akutagawa's dark pessimism.
and Michael Kanin
ran for six months (January-June) at the Music Box Theatre, New York, starring husband and wife Rod Steiger
and Claire Bloom
. The Kanins' production was nominated for three Tony awards; for more details see the Internet Broadway Database entry.
The Kanins' somewhat sentimental script sticks closely to the film, including elements added by Kurosawa that do not appear in Akutagawa's original short stories. The Kanins later went on to write the film screenplay for the Western The Outrage
, which also credits Akutagawa (but not Hashimoto). The Outrage was one of several Westerns based on Kurosawa's films, most notably John Sturges
' The Magnificent Seven
, adapted from Kurosawa's historical epic Seven Samurai (1960), and Sergio Leone
's ground-breaking "Spaghetti Western
" A Fistful of Dollars/Per un pugno di dollari
(1964). The Kanins' script was also staged on U.S. television as a "Play of the Week" (1960).
East West Players
presented the first intimate staging of the play, as their inaugural production in 1966.
More modern adaptations of Rashomon have gone back to Akutagawa's original stories.
Rashomon - adaptation by Philippe Cherbonnier (after Akutagawa), directed by Kwong Loke, Kumiko Mendl & David K.S. Tse for Yellow Earth Theatre Company, London UK and tour, (2001).
details at Yellow Earth and Dimsum - the British Chinese Community Website
There is also a 1997 opera composed by Alejandro Viñao
, with libretto by Craig Raine.
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
is the most famous instance, Akutagawa's stories have also been adapted for the stage.
Source material
Ryūnosuke AkutagawaRyunosuke Akutagawa
was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He committed suicide at age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.-Early life:...
's two short stories "Rashomon"
Rashomon (short story)
is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa based on tales from the Konjaku Monogatarishū.The story was first published in 1915 in Teikoku Bungaku. Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon , takes only its name and some of the material for the frame scenes, such as the theft of a kimono and the discussion of the...
(1915 - AKA "The Rashomon Gate") and "In a Grove
In a Grove
is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, first appearing in the January 1922 edition of the Japanese literature monthly Shinchō. Akira Kurosawa used this story as the basis for his award-winning movie Rashōmon....
" (1921 - AKA "The Cedar Grove") were famously fused and adapted as the basis for Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
's award-winning film Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950), screenplay by Akutagawa and frequent collaborator Shinobu Hashimoto
Shinobu Hashimoto
Shinobu Hashimoto is a Japanese screenwriter, director, producer, and was a frequent collaborator with Akira Kurosawa.He has won some 16 awards for his writing including a succession of Blue Ribbon Awards particularly in the 1960s....
. In 1951 the film won an honorary International Academy Award, following the success of the film in winning a Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
award at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in the same year. The Kurosawa and Hashimoto screenplay deviates from Akutagawa's original stories in a number of ways, most notably by allowing a note of hope to triumph over Akutagawa's dark pessimism.
Fay and Michael Kanin
This 1959 Broadway adaptation by FayFay Kanin
Fay Kanin is an American screenwriter, playwright and producer. Kanin was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979 to 1983.-Biography:...
and Michael Kanin
Michael Kanin
Michael Kanin was an American director, producer, playwright and screenwriter who shared an Academy Award with Ring Lardner Jr. in 1942 for writing the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy film comedy Woman of the Year....
ran for six months (January-June) at the Music Box Theatre, New York, starring husband and wife Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
and Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
. The Kanins' production was nominated for three Tony awards; for more details see the Internet Broadway Database entry.
The Kanins' somewhat sentimental script sticks closely to the film, including elements added by Kurosawa that do not appear in Akutagawa's original short stories. The Kanins later went on to write the film screenplay for the Western The Outrage
The Outrage
The Outrage is a remake of the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon, reformulated as a Western. Like the original Akira Kurosawa film, four people give contradictory accounts of a rape and murder. Kurosawa is credited with the screenplay. It was directed by Martin Ritt and is based on stories by Ryūnosuke...
, which also credits Akutagawa (but not Hashimoto). The Outrage was one of several Westerns based on Kurosawa's films, most notably John Sturges
John Sturges
John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The Magnificent Seven , The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra .-Career:He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932...
' The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
, adapted from Kurosawa's historical epic Seven Samurai (1960), and Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
's ground-breaking "Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
" A Fistful of Dollars/Per un pugno di dollari
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
(1964). The Kanins' script was also staged on U.S. television as a "Play of the Week" (1960).
East West Players
East West Players
East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As one of the nation's first Asian American theatre organizations, East West Players today continues to produce works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American...
presented the first intimate staging of the play, as their inaugural production in 1966.
More modern adaptations of Rashomon have gone back to Akutagawa's original stories.
Ivor Benjamin
Ivor Benjamin's 1988 adaptation is from original translations by Jane Guaschi, then a language student at Sheffield University, U.K., and stays closer to the bleaker viewpoint of Akutagawa than the Kanins' version. This adaptation received its international premiere by Storytellers Theatre Company, Ireland, 2005, for which the tour was nominated for two ESB/Irish Times 2005 Theatre Awards: Liam Halligan for Best Director and Chisato Yoshimi for Best Costume Design. The script has also been performed at Jackson's Lane Theatre, London, UK (1988), the University of the Philippines (2000), in Ashland, Oregon, USA (2006) (review) and by Black Sheep Theatre Company, Rochester NY, US (2009) (review).Other Adaptations
Rashomon - adaptation by Meena Natarajan and Luu Pham for Pangea World Theater (2000), details at the Pangea website.Rashomon - adaptation by Philippe Cherbonnier (after Akutagawa), directed by Kwong Loke, Kumiko Mendl & David K.S. Tse for Yellow Earth Theatre Company, London UK and tour, (2001).
details at Yellow Earth and Dimsum - the British Chinese Community Website
There is also a 1997 opera composed by Alejandro Viñao
Alejandro Viñao
Alejandro Viñao is an Argentinian composer currently living in the United Kingdom.Viñao studied musical composition in Buenos Aires with the composer Jacobo Fischer . In 1976 he was awarded a British Council scholarship to study in London at the Royal College of Music and later on at the City...
, with libretto by Craig Raine.