月夜の化かし合い

対象:一般向け ／ 時間:60〜70分

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心中は演目、月は照明。

愛も小判も化かし合いーー最後に笑うのは誰だ。

Double suicide is theater; the moon, a spotlight.

Love and gold are games of deception—who gets the last laugh?

【あらすじ】

江戸・蔵前。

向島出の元芸者・お高は、身請け主の越野屋の旦那から「手切れ金二十両で別れてくれ」と通告される。強がって「いっそ心中を」と返したお高は、母の入れ知恵で吾妻橋の夜に“ひとりだけ助かる”算段に出る。

そこへ「旦那が化けて枕元に立った」と騒ぐ和泉屋の藤助が現れ、尼になれ、髪を切れ…と脅しと助言が飛び交う中、あの心中話が“真心を試す仕掛け”だった素顔も露わに。

偽小判か本銀か、涙か芝居か——月明かりの下、言葉と財布と度胸を賭けた化かし合いが始まる。最後に笑うのは、誰だ。

Edo—Kuramae. Otaka, a former geisha from Mukōjima, is told by her patron, Koshinoya the produce wholesaler, “take twenty ryō in severance and be on your way.” She fires back, “Then let’s die together,” and—armed with her mother’s sly advice—stages a “double suicide” at Azumabashi that just happens to leave one of them quite alive.

Enter Izumiya Tōsuke: he swears the patron’s ghost appeared at his bedside, raging that Otaka broke their pact and vowing revenge. To cut off a man’s lingering obsession, Tōsuke urges, “She should take the tonsure.” Hair, rumors, and threats fly—until the “suicide” is unmasked as a test of true feeling. Were those coins fake koban or real silver? Tears or theater? Under moonlight, Otaka and the men trade feints with words, wallets, and nerve in a gleeful battle of wits. Who gets the last laugh?