Juro Kara, rebel playwright behind Japan's modern underground theater, dies at 84
TOKYO (AP) — Juro Kara, who helped shape Japan’s postwar avant-garde theater, defiantly yet playfully transforming the essence of Kabuki aesthetics into modern storytelling, has died. He was 84.
The playwright, director and troupe leader died late Saturday from a blood clot in the brain after he collapsed at home and was rushed to a Tokyo hospital on May 1, his theater group Karagumi said in a statement on Sunday.
Kara, whose real name was Yoshihide Otsuru, rose to stardom in the so-called Japanese underground movement of the 1960s known as “un-gura,” characterized by a kitsch rebellious style also found in his contemporaries Shuji Terayama and Tadashi Suzuki.
Kara’s colorful shows, often in makeshift tents evocative of a traveling circus, rejected the established theatrical modes then dominating modernizing Japan that were mostly Western, middle class and well-behaved.
Related articles
Anne Hathaway rocks fictional boy band tee 'August Moon' as part of her promo push for new rom
One day after her latest film premiered on Amazon Prime Video, Anne Hathaway decided to make her pro2024-05-05Hannah Elizabeth puts on a VERY busty display in a white tweed co
Hannah Elizabeth made sure all eyes were on her as she attended the Aintree Grand National Festival2024-05-05Beijing, Hebei province brace for forecast snow
By Du Juan and Zhang Yu (China Daily) 10:16, December 14, 2023Residents in Beijing enjoy the first s2024-05-05Prince Andrew breaks cover as he goes for a horse ride in Windsor
Prince Andrew broke cover today as he headed for a horse ride in Windsor, a week after a Netflix dra2024-05-05How American protests came to be loved and loathed
NEW YORK (AP) — They’re hallmarks of American history: protests, rallies, sit-ins, marches, disrupti2024-05-05Former CSIC chairman sentenced to 13 years in jail for bribery, abuse of power
(Xinhua) 14:27, December 27, 2023SHANGHAI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced2024-05-05
atest comment