Pargamatic U-Turna: Unity within Diversity and the Discomfort of Self-Representation in Takarazuka Revue's Performance Strategy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the representation of late-modern Japan by the extremely popular, all-female musical theatre Takarazuka Revue, as displayed in two recent performances: Le Château de la Reine (2017, sky troupe) and Company (2018, moon troupe). The dramaturgic decision to tackle the problematic of late-modern Japan on Takarazuka Revue's stage is an important one: firstly, it is a clear distancing from the postwar performance strategy to not ever represent Asian peoples or nations in modern or contemporary times due to Takarazuka Revue's infamous involvement before and during the war; secondly, it is a powerful ideological return to its founder Ichizō Kobayashi's ideal of a theatre for the people and in the name of the people, which has gradually vanished since the overwhelming success of the blockbuster The Rose of Versailles (1974) with its numerous sequels and its orchestration of the world as a flowery rococo fantasy with gorgeous costumes, rapid succession of astonishing stage-sceneries and flamboyant advertisement of otokoyaku (female impersonators of male roles in Takarazuka Revue). Regardless whether it tackles the experiences of a group of Japanese tourists in Paris or everyday lifestyles in Tokyo, Takarazuka Revue's re-creation of "Japan", "Japanese citizens" or "Japaneseness" strongly adheres to the idea of "unity within diversity": namely, tolerance and preservation of the status-quo. The analysis unfolds on two levels: the narrative construction of a "Japan of variety and self-acceptance", visible in the performances themselves, and the meta-narrative level referring to Takarazuka Revue as a public institution within the complex apparatus which is the Japanese media industry.