Kabuki 2002:
Iwashiuri Koi no Hikiami - Catching a Fish Called Love
The play opens with an impasse on Gojo Bridge between the horse trader Rokurozaemon (Adele Eather) and Ebina-Namidabutsu (Rebekah Hill). RokuroZaemon is having difficulties selling his horse (Watanabe Yuichi, Komazawa Takeshi), despite its obvious skills, and Ebina asks himif he has seen his son, Saru Genji, recently. Rokurozaemon leaves as Saru Genji (Lyndal Dunsmore) arrives, with a dejected look on his face. He explains to his father, Ebina, that he has fallen hopelessly in love with a beautiful woman he glimpsed while selling sardines. 
Ebina recongises the name "Hotarubi" as that of a high class courtesan. They concoct a plan whereby Saru Genji is able to meet the object of his adoration by masquerading as Lord Utsunomiya Danjo, a famous warlord from the East. Sarugenji's fellow sardine sellers are to play Lord Utsunomiya's retainers. They set off for the pleasure quarters.
The courtesans Usugumo, Harusame, Nishikigi, Rangiku, Takinoi, (Roderick Siebel, Stephen Harrington, Peter Caldwell, Thomas Mahony, Tim Buckler) are trying to guess what is in Hotarubi's jar, joking that it probably contains something that they all hate - men! Hotarubi (Matthew Douglas) joins them,
explaining that the shells inside the jar are actually for a game involving traditional poetry. While they play the game, Hotarubi spies a gardener, Jirota (Emily Williams), unknown to her, sweeping outside. Before she has a chance to investigate further, he disappears and the Teishu (Julia Malecky), the owner of the pleasure house, informs them all of the impending arrival of Lord Utsunomiya.
Ebina arrives at Gojo Higashi no Toin and announces Utsunomiya's arrival. Shortly thereafter, Saru Genji - in disguise - and his entourage arrive. When Saru Genji says he would like to see Hotarubi, each of the courtesans tries to win his affections by claiming to be Hotarubi.
When she finally does appear, Sarugenji is requested to regale the courtesans with stories of his past battles. Curiously, all the names of the characters sound suspiciously like the names of fish!
Finally Saru Genji is left alone with Hotarubi. He dozes off, and in his drunken sleep intones his sardine seller's cry. Initally distraught that he may be speaking of another woman, Hotarubi listens closely and guesses the true nature of his profession. Upon awakening, Saru Genji manages to convince her that he really is Lord Utsunomiya. 
To his surprise, she breaks down crying. She explains her misery, recounting her own tale of unrequited love for the sardine seller who's voice she fell in love with many years ago. This second disappointment is unbearable and she asks Saru Genji to let her kill herself.
Ebina, Rokurozaemon and the Teishu overhear this conversation and unite the two by proving that Saru Genji really is the same sardine seller whom Hotarubi fell in love with ten years ago. Suddenly the gardener reappears, dressed as a Samurai. It transpires that Hotarubi is really a princess who was kidnapped and sold to the pleasure house, and that the gardener-samurai is a bodyguard sent by her royal parents to find her. 
He requests that Hotarubi return to the castle with him, but she instead orders him to release the 'retainers' he captured by mistake, pay the Teishu her bond and give Rokuro Zaemon money for his lamed horse.
Telling Jirota, the bodyguard-samurai-gardener, to let Hotarubi's parents know she intends to marry a sardine seller and spend her days selling sardines, the happy couple begin to leave. Jirota attempts to take his own life and save his honour rather than face Hotarubi's parents. But his sword is too rusty and will not cut. The blissful couple leave, calling out their sardine seller's cry...
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The play opens with an impasse on Gojo Bridge between the horse trader Rokurozaemon (Adele Eather) and Ebina-Namidabutsu (Rebekah Hill). RokuroZaemon is having difficulties selling his horse (Watanabe Yuichi, Komazawa Takeshi), despite its obvious skills, and Ebina asks himif he has seen his son, Saru Genji, recently. Rokurozaemon leaves as Saru Genji (Lyndal Dunsmore) arrives, with a dejected look on his face. He explains to his father, Ebina, that he has fallen hopelessly in love with a beautiful woman he glimpsed while selling sardines. 
Ebina recongises the name "Hotarubi" as that of a high class courtesan. They concoct a plan whereby Saru Genji is able to meet the object of his adoration by masquerading as Lord Utsunomiya Danjo, a famous warlord from the East. Sarugenji's fellow sardine sellers are to play Lord Utsunomiya's retainers. They set off for the pleasure quarters.
