竹本住大夫 引退公演 SUMITAYU'S LAST PERFORMANCE

 

竹本住大夫引退公演

 

竹本住大夫、引退公演についてのテレビ番組を見た。彼は８９歳、６８年間文楽一筋に生きてきた人間国宝である。
　２年前に脳梗塞を患い、今までのような文楽はできなくなった。そのため住大夫は、５月の公演を最後に、引退を決意した。
　NHKのインタビューで、「私は義太夫が好きや、残念やけど、しゃぁない」と言っていた。
　最後の舞台で下手な義太夫を聞かせては、お客さんに面目が立たないと思い、住大夫はリハビリ師のもと、腹筋を中心にリハビリに取り組んだ。毎週二回一キロの距離を歩くなど、様々な身体運動を行った。
　引退公演を聞けるものにするのだ、という意気込みに頭が下がった。彼は「死んでも稽古は続けなあかんと思っとります」と言う。
　芸の道は長く限りがない。しかし、住大夫は８９歳にして、今後も稽古を続けていくと言っている。見習うべきだ。
　　

 

SUMITAYU'S LAST PERFORMANCE

 

I watched a TV program “The Last Performance,” which featured Sumitayu Takemoto, an 89-year old gidayu story teller for a traditional Japanese puppet play, bunraku. He is a human national treasure, who performed gidayu for 68 years.
　　Unfortunately he had brain infarct two years ago. That affected his stage performance. So, he decided to retire this May because he thought he was no longer able to perform as well as before.
He said in the NHK interview, “I love gidayu, but I have to retire. I am sorry, but I cannot help it.”
　　He thought that it would be a shame to present a poor performance for his last time on stage. Therefore, he trained his body, especially his abdomen, with the help of a rehabilitation trainer. He did various types of body trainings, including walking a kilometer twice a week.
　　I was moved by his strong will to make his last performance worth listening to. He said, “I have to practice gidayu even after death.”
　　The way to master art is long and limitless, yet he says at the age of 89 he will continue practicing. I have to imitate his spirit.