Stage names:
Yamanaka Heikurô I
Suzuki Heikurô
Line number: SHODAI (I)
Poetry name: Sen'ya
Existence: 1642 ~ 15 May 1724
Connections:
Master: Suzuki Heizaemon
Son-in-law: Yamanaka Takejûrô
Disciples: Yamanaka Heikurô II, Yamanaka Heijûrô I, Yamanaka Seikurô
Career:
1642 ~ 1689: he starts his career as a disciple of Suzuki Heizaemon, who gives him the name of Suzuki Heikurô. Later on, he takes the name of Yamanaka Heikurô I at an unknown date.
1689: Heikurô becomes jitsuaku at the Nakamuraza.
January 1697: premiere of the bombastic "Shibaraku" scene (kabuki jûhachiban), at the Nakamuraza, performed within the drama "Daifukuchô Sankai Nagoya". Heikurô plays the villain role and his stage partners are Ichikawa Danjûrô I and Ogino Sawanojô.
January 1700: Heikurô plays at the Yamamuraza the role of Kudô Suketsune Saemon in the new year drama "Keisei Asamagadake".
March 1700: Heikurô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô (superior - superior).
November 1700: Heikurô plays at the Nakamuraza in the drama "Kimpira Rokujô Gayoi".
January 1701: Heikurô plays in the same theater the role of Suzuka no Ôji [print] in the drama "Keisei Ôshôkun", which includes for the first time in Kabuki history the "Zôhiki" scene (kabuki jûhachiban).
March 1701: Heikurô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).
November 1702: Heikurô plays at the Ichimuraza in the drama "Yorimasa Hôraizan".
November 1704: Heikurô achieves a great success at the Moritaza by playing the role of the warrior Taira no Kagekiyo in the drama "Jitsuaku Shichibyôei Kagekiyo".
November 1706: premiere at the Yamamuraza of the drama "Taihei Shusse Kagekiyo", which is considered as an earlier version of the kabuki jûhachiban drama "Kagekiyo"; Heikurô plays the role of Kumagai Jirô Naozane [casting].
November 1710: Heikurô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Kusunoki Masanari in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki", which celebrates the shûmei of Takii Hanshirô.
November 1711: Heikurô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Kusunoki Masashige in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki" [more details].
January 1713: Heikurô plays at the Yamamuraza the role of Ôtakemaru in the drama "Ishiyama Genta Kimon Yaburi".
November 1716: Heikurô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of the rebel Abe no Sadatô in the drama "Yoroi Kurabe Ôshû Gane".
January 1720: Heikurô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Kudô Suketsune Saemon in the drama "Kamanari Nigiwai Soga".
Spring 1724: Heikurô appears on stage for the last time, playing at the Ichimuraza the role of Itô Nyûdô in the drama "Yomeiri Izu Nikki".
Comments:
Yamanaka Heikurô I, a stage giant of the Genroku era, was, along with Ôtani Hiroemon I, one of the first great katakiyaku and jitsuaku in Kabuki history: "Many stories are told of the impressiveness of this stage villain, and how even the actors playing with him sometimes became frightened at his appearance. He was of large physique and a man of forceful character, so that he was eminently fitted to play the diabolical katakiyaku whose fierceness and violence caused the Edo audience of those days to feel thrills of horror." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")
Yamanaka Heikurô I