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Shiki Theatre Company

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Shiki Theatre Company (劇団四季, Gekidan Shiki, Lit. Four Seasons Theatre Company) is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs over 800 actors and staff, and stages about 2800 performances a year. Shiki Theatre Company operates nine theaters for their exclusive use. Originally, they staged classic plays by Jean Anouilh or Jean Giraudoux. However, in the late 1970s, they found success by staging western musicals and plays.

Contents

Shiki is also known for producing original language musicals. One such example is the Showa Trilogy, a set of three musicals about World War II and the aftermath. The series consists of Ri Kōran, a musical about the famous Manchurian-Japanese singer; Foreign Hill (異国の丘, Ikoku no Oka) which tells the story of Japanese prisoners of war at an internment camp in Siberia; and Southern Cross (南十字星, Minami Shūjisei) about the trials of innocent B and C-class war criminals in Indonesia.

History

Shiki Theatre Company is established in 1953 by Keita Asari (浅利慶太) and his company The organization was established as a stock holding company in 1967.

Performed works

Shiki Theatre Company has performed many Broadway musicals, including the following.

Original shows and adaptations

  • A Dream Within a Dream (夢から醒めた夢, Yume Kara Samete Yume)based on a novel by Jirō Akagawa
  • Yuta's Enchanting Friends (ユタと不思議な仲間たち, Yuta to Fushigina Nakama-tachi) based on the novel by Miura Tetsuo.
  • Showa Trilogy

  • Ri Koran
  • Foreign Hill
  • Southern Cross
  • Children's theatre

  • Anne of Green Gables
  • Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird (Sometimes retitled: Dreaming)
  • Lloyd Alexander's The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man
  • The Emperor's New Clothes
  • Western shows

  • Disney's Aida
  • A Chorus Line
  • Contact
  • Crazy for You
  • Equus
  • Evita
  • Jesus Christ Superstar
  • Mamma Mia!
  • Lloyd-Webber's Phantom of the Opera
  • Le Passe Muraille
  • Spring Awakening
  • West Side Story
  • Wicked
  • Family entertainment

  • Disney's Beauty and the Beast
  • Cats
  • Disney's The Lion King
  • Disney's The Little Mermaid
  • Disney's Aladdin
  • Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • References

    Shiki Theatre Company Wikipedia