Of interest

I unearthed a couple of rare clips depicting some early Tenjō Sajiki [天井桟敷] rehearsals from the seventies. At this point Terayama was still in charge of the shock theatre troupe, and they had succeeded in making themselves a name among the experimental artists of postwar Japan. This fame, however, also had its downsides; for the most part, "respectable" outlets and scholarly critics downplayed their work as either 'unnecesarily violent' or "pornographic and obscene", and their managerial approach as "antisocial" or even "cultish". Tenjō Sajiki indeed took pleasure in deeply exploring taboo themes, drawing its influences from many openly antisocial writers such as Sade, Lautréamont or even Aleister Crowley himself, who features in a couple of its publications. Their ''The Revaluation of All Values'' was even applied to its hiring process, with admission casts contaning deeply personal questions. Some of the scenes they were asked to perform in order to be admitted included incestuous roles, openly blasphemous characters or speeches in favor of murder or suicide; their abandonment and passion on these roles were taken as proof of commitment to the radical artistic project. Getting the admission was considered quite difficult.

In these two short clips we get to see these actors, rehearsing on a college's sports hall. Some elements are quite recognisable already. Tenjō Sajiki's characteristic spectral aesthetic department, with black robes and white-powdered faces, its infernally-inspired choirs and the overall physicality of its training (this latter feature being shared by many other troupes on its line). The lady shouting directions and performing in the second clip may be Yoko Ran going by her characteristic raspy voice; video quality is so low it's hard to tell for sure. Her femme demeanor here is reminiscent of some of Terayama's plays such as Directions to Servants, inspired by Jonathan Swift's satire of the same name. The humble handycam recording actually manages to offer some interesting panning shots and perspectives; I particularly like the encircling you can see in the first one, of the trainees singing. It is almost reminiscent of a black mass of some kind. There you go (remember you can enlarge these windows!):