Performing Female Intimacy in Japan's Takarazuka Revue (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781009554978)

Japan's Takarazuka Revue is arguably the most commercially successful all-female theatre company in the world. Renowned for its glamour-laden staging of musicals and revues, the company's signature shows are heterosexual Western romances where women play both male and female roles. Since its audience consists almost entirely of women, Takarazuka creates a space for queer intimacy between performers and ardent female fans. This Element analyses the recent experimental show, The Poe Clan, directed by Koike Shūichirō, which portrays a male homoerotic relationship, argued as a façade for a queer, kin-like relationship between women. It also explores works by the female director Ueda Kumiko, which depict an anti-capitalist shared commons for female intimacy. These shows exhibit resistant girls' aesthetics, expressed in the company's two-dimensional performance style.

Author: Nobuko Anan
ISBN-10: 1009554972
ISBN-13: 9781009554978
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/28/2025
Pages: 68
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.58lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.25d