TAKARAZUKA REVUE 2.0.: 2015’S EFFORTS OF RECALIBRATION
TAKARAZUKA REVUE 2.0.: 2015’S EFFORTS OF RECALIBRATION

Summary/Abstract: Based on more than two decades of on-site fieldwork comprised of extensive phenomenological experiences and detailed empiric inquiries with both producers and consumers of Japanese popular culture and, distinctively, of the Japanese all-female musical theatre Takarazuka Revue Company’s performances as well as of comprehensive archival literature research, this paper aims at hermeneutically elucidating the underlying mechanisms within the dramaturgic conglomerate, conveying and inspiring “change”, both textually and contextually, as an inescapable force constantly pushing history forward, by means of critically investigating Takarazuka Revue’s three pivotal theatrical plays in the year 2015, following 2014’s unprecedentedly glamorous celebration of 100 years since its foundation in 1914: Moon Troupe’s 1789: The Lovers of Bastille, Cosmos Troupe’s A Song for Kingdoms and Snow Troupe’s The Night When the Stars Met. Despite its staunchly conservative fan-base, even Takarazuka Revue could not evade or postpone “change” any longer, and 2015’s radical paradigm shifts in the performance strategy proved precisely this fundamental truth, revealing Takarazuka Revue Company’s efforts – of its administrators, actresses, directors, composers, script-writers, conductors, etc. – as manifestations of a more deeply seated quest for ideological alignment with global challenges in recent years, in contrast with previous staging protocols, and proactively overcoming Japan’s historically displayed reluctance to enact a more active role within the international community. The key-element in this endeavour is the redefinition of “change” as a self-aware choice, empowering the late-modern individual to dare powerful transformations as part of a greater whole, liberating him-/herself from the constraints of an existence in the shadows of mindless consumerism and “quiet desperation”.

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