Shina shibai seichû den hoshi banryû (支那芝居 精忠伝星蠻龍)
[Actor in a Chinese Opera]
Performance Place: Teikoku Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: October 25, 1924 - November 4, 1924
Print Date: 1924
*Image courtesy of The Ringling Museum of Art
Note: This print reflects a performance of one of the following Chinese
productions which played at the Teikoku Gekijô: Magu Xian Shou; Daiyu
Zang Hua; Guifei Zui Jiu; Jingju Yubei Ting; Kunqu Youyuan Jingmeng;
Ianü San Hua; and Hongni Guan (The Rainbow Pass). The Chinese troupe
also performed at the Takarazuka Daigekijô in Tokyo between November 7
and 11, 1924.
The Peking Opera star Mei Langfang (梅兰芳), who previously appeared in
Tokyo in 1919, was invited back in 1924 to perform on the occasion of the
opening of the recently rebuilt Teikoku theater and for the celebration of
Ôkura Kihachirô’s eighty-eighth birthday. However, since Mei Langfang
typically performed in female roles, it is likely that another actor of his troupe
is depicted in this print.
