Angura (アングラ), also known as the “Little Theater” (小劇場, shōgekijō) movement, was a Japanese avant-garde theater movement in the 1960s and 1970s that reacted against the Brechtian modernism and formalist realism of postwar Shingeki theater in Japan to stage anarchic “underground” productions in tents, on street corners, and in small spaces that explored themes of primitivism, sexuality, and embodied physicality. The term “Angura” was an abbreviation of the Japanese phrase “underground theater” (アンダーグラウンド演劇, andaaguraundo engeki ).

This giant sized art book showcases 100 posters from the Angura theater movement. While I have zero knowledge of Angura prior to picking up this book, I was fascinated and intrigued by the fantastic visual aesthetics and design of these posters; some of them look outlandish and bizarre, others scary even, but all of them are interesting, and there is little question that many of the pieces feature some very excellent art work and illustrations. There’s even one illustrated by AKIRA creator Katsuhiro Otomo. ( see image further below )

(above right) One of the Angura poster designs illustrated by AKIRA creator Otomo Katsuhiro. The poster is also collected in his excellent 20 Posters art book.

A fascinating dive into the somewhat bizarre world of Angura theater visual art and design. Poster art aficionados looking to expand their collection with something uniquely Japanese will likely find this to be of interest.

On a technical note, the very large print size of the book really shows off the vibrant colors of the posters to great effect.

“Japan Avant-garde Stage Play Poster Art ジャパン・アヴァンギャルド -アングラ演劇傑作ポスター” details :

Dimensions – 11.69 x 16.54 x 0.63 inches
Softcover, 120 pages
Full color, In Japanese language

  
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