A Playbill for the Ichimura Theater
- Date:
- 1715
- Medium:
- Hand-colored woodblock print; o-oban, sumizuri-e
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Dated to 1715, this o-oban sumizuri-e is a playbill (banzuke) for the Ichimura-za, one of the three official kabuki theaters of Edo. Playbills served as the printed program for a kabuki production, listing the cast, the order of acts, and other essential information for the theater-going public. The Torii school held the contract for designing the Ichimura-za's playbills and posters, making Kiyomasu I's work in this format an extension of the workshop's everyday theatrical business. The composition arranges typographic information and illustrative elements in the layout conventions of early eighteenth-century theatrical printing, with bold contour lines providing graphic structure. As surviving Edo ephemera, playbills from this period offer historians of kabuki direct evidence of repertoire and casting. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this print.
More Prints by Torii Kiyomasu I
The Actors Arashi Koroku I as Makomo no Mae and Ichikawa Uzaemon VIII as Taira no Koremochi in the play "Shusse Momijigari," performed at the Ichimura Theater in the eleventh month, 1747
1747
Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
The Actors Sanogawa Ichimatsu I as Soga no Goro and Ikushima Daikichi II as Kewaizaka no Shosho in the play "Monzukushi Nagoya Soga," performed at the Ichimura Theater in the first month, 1748
1748
Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
Ichimura Manzo as Yatsushi Goro and Segawa Kikujiro as Yatsushi Shosho
ca. 1745
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Courtesan
ca. 1712
Monochrome woodblock (tan-e) print; ink on paper
Frequently Asked Questions
A Playbill for the Ichimura Theater was created by Torii Kiyomasu I (鳥居清倍) in 1715.