Shogeki-Jo, the little theatre movement of the 1960s, also called the underground (angura) theatre has formed the basis of contemporary theatre in Japan. This theatre developed in a spirit of revolt against the post war Japanese mainstream. The first generation artist of angura, such as Terayama Shuji, Suzuki Tadashi and Kara Juro, created a dark world of passions that broke the conventional frame of theatre; the first modern theatre that is uniquely Japanese in aesthetics and practice. In the 1980s and the 90s, as the social conditions in Japan changed drastically, the focus of angura theatre also shifted. It developed mainly in two directions. One is the light, fluffy theatre of Noda Hideki and the quiet theatre of Hirata Oriza, where the radical element of underground theatre has been replaced by normalization and popularization; hence its relation to the original angura impetus becomes uncertain. However, the other strand of the angura development demonstrat

Hirata Oriza's hyper-naturalistic ¥quiet theatre' (shizukana engeki) differs entirely in style to Noda's dreamscapes, yet both present the notion of the "endless present". Quiet theatre depicts the seemless everyday of Japanese lives. These plays never have a formal beginning and ending, as the plays seem to have a life of its own that goes on in perpetuity. All the actors are caught up in the most neutralized situations of Japanese everyday, playing out the minute details of the "non-confrontational, repetitious and typically polite Japanese attitudes" . It is a social place where everyone pretends to be happy, enacting the set of patterns required in Japanese social conversations. As Miyoshi Masao has described, this is a place where there are no explicit rules of conduct but Japanese people never the less understand explicitly what to do and how to behave. Although it has been argued by Hasabe Hiroshi that the quiet theatre reflects a yearning for nature in the face of social breakdown, it is hardly convincing as the characters seem to be warmly embraced in the commonplace and the repetitious social interactions. This theatre demonstrates to us a form of ¥national poetics' that erases the possibilities of difference, where people is constantly reminded and bounded by a set of enduring cultural values. The popularity of Hirata's quiet theatre hence relies on the audience's nostalgic recognition with the theatre environment, as it presents a ceaseless and un-challenged social norm where people may easily relate. Such theatre entraps in the capitalist expansion, avoiding any possibilities of critical and radical elements in its presentation, naturalizing all social conventions.

The central problem presented to these angura artists was the sense that life in post war Japan was empty and meaningless because it was separated from the origins of Japanese culture. They thus sought ways to escape conformity and discover a sense of liberation and purpose through theatre. Theatre practices became extremely experimental and non-conventional, as one of the most important founder of the movement, Terayama Shuji described that theatre should " take power with imagination" . The structure of these angura plays developed complexity, where the past, present and future was submerged and distorted, the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary, the reality and the illusionary, crumbled away. Suzuki Tadashi, the founder of the Waseda Shogekijo theatre group, developed what became known as the unique ¥Suzuki method' of physical training, that emphasized the way in which the lower part of the actors body was used, which evolved into a totally original style that emphasis the actor's body on stage. This was an attempt to absorb the traditional Japanese view of theatre, where the acting was considered the most important. One of the major achievements of Shogekijo was the numerous attempts to bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary theatre. While trying to break the confines of system, they incorporated the practices and aesthetics that have survived for centuries into their performances, creating an innovative theatre with firm roots. In order to transcend the self from the meaningless of everyday existence, memory, history and identity constantly shifts in the play, creating an absurd and dream-like space reflecting the notion that "reality is nothing more than arbitrary social construction" .

The theme of dreams resonates throughout the Shogekijo works, as it was a dream for the individual and society to be liberated from conformity and the cultural constructions of power elites. The angura theatre was closely linked to the politics of the left counter culture. These plays aim to change the perception of the structured world and achieve self-transcendence through a particular mode of training, resolving the strong sense of cultural dislocation and identity crisis experienced in the society. In this sense, the angura

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gekidan Kaitaisha, Hasabe Hiroshi, Waseda Shogekijo, Yume Yuminsha, Suzuki Kara, Japan Noda's, Dumb Type, Hirata Oriza's, Essay Question, Ibsen Chekhov, angura theatre, theatre 1980s, gekidan kaitaisha, japanese society, daisan erotica, 1960s angura, quiet theatre, theatre 1960s, bubble economy, kaitaisha dumb type, contemporary theatre, gekidan kaitaisha dumb, angura theatre 1960s, 1960s angura theatre, radical theatre 1990s,
Approximate Word count = 2788
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)