Stage

Stage 段階 Bunraku performances are usually performed on a proscenium stage, as seen above. This stage is divided into two or three zones by railings, each from to back. This allows the audience to see all of the different components of the Bunraku performance, including the shamisen, joruri, who are sitting on the right of the audience. Also, it is important where the different partitions are, as this is where different characters are placed according to their rank in the play. However, most importantly the puppets and puppeteers, need to be seen, therefore, in a Bunraku performance of the Love Suicides by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, there would need to be a proscenium stage. However, if this was unavailable, there would need to be a set up of the different components so that all were perfectly visible and on the same level as the audience.

**Komaku & Misuuchi:** From the point-of-view of the audience, the right-hand side is called //'kamite//' (stage left) and conversely the left-hand side //'shimote//' (stage right). Puppets make their stage entrance and then leave through the //'komaku//' (small black curtains) on either side of the stage. The //'misuuchi//' (screened-off rooms) are just above the small curtains set behind bamboo blinds placed so the audience cannot be disturbed by seeing backstage activities. To the audience's right//'misuuchi//', are the novice chanters and //'shamisen//' players while to the left //'misuuchi//', are the members of the//'hayashi//' (orchestra), who perform on such instruments as flutes, stick drums, hand drums, and bells, also evoke the prevailing ambiance of the scene by producing sound effects as wind, rain, or the murmurs of a river flowing by. **Funazoko:** Behind a //'tesuri//', lower than the stage level, is found a //'funazoko//' (stage pit) where puppeteers stand positioning puppets to the appropriate level required by the story line. **Tesuri:** Using all of the stage, three partitions known as //'tesuri//' (railings) can represent a flat surface where a puppet might stand or waves of the sea keeping a ship afloat. **Backgrounds:** A variety of backgrounds are utilized depending on the requirements of the plot. Nature scenery may be painted realistically or sometimes in an abstract manner. In particular, seascapes and waves are often rendered in diverse patterns only limited by the artist's imagination and ingenuity.

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