The Benshi Tradition and the Silver Screen: A Japanese Puppetry Spin-off

Opening Date: Dec 12, 2024

Closing Date: Dec 13, 2024

The Benshi Tradition and the Silver Screen: A Japanese Puppetry Spin-off

https://japansociety.org/performing-arts/the-benshi-tradition-and-the-silver-screen-a-japanese-puppe

Playing @

Japan Society

333 E 47 St New York, NY 10022

View on map

View theatre details

Benshi, Japan’s riveting “movie talkers” of the silent film era, drew in audiences with their live film narration and dramatic character portrayals, often with musicians providing accompaniment. This rich period of early Japanese cinema has a direct structural connection to the Japanese puppet theater tradition, in which chanters narrated stories and gave voice to silent puppets alongside theatrical shamisen music. In this two-night program, modern benshi star Ichiro Kataoka and NY-based shamisen player Sumie Kaneko come together for two screenings of stories set in the samurai era—A Diary of Chuji’s Travels and Chushingura.

Off-Off Broadway

Show Notes: Silent film with live benshi narration in Japanese with English subtitles.

Performance Schedule:

THURSDAY & FRIDAY @ 7:30 PM

TDF Tickets Offers:

TDF member tickets:

Not currently available for this show

Browse other listings

Listed at TKTS

Never

See TKTS Live

Full-price tickets

^$31

Buy tickets

Accessibility:

Directions Bus

¦By bus: M15 to 47th Street, M101 or M102 north on Third Avenue to 47th Street, or crosstown M50 (on weekdays) or M42.

Restroom

handicapped accessible

Directions Subway

¦By subway: #4/5/6, 7 and S at Grand Central Station; #6 at 51st Street and Lexington Avenue; and the E and V at Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street. Public parking available nearby.