日治晚期的臺灣戲劇向來被視為臺灣戲劇史上的「黑暗時期」，呈現出傳統斷裂、「皇民化」政策主導戲劇發展的現象。本文重新檢討「皇民化運動」前四年的戲劇活動，主要針對以下重點:一、臺灣總督府戲劇政策的形成、變遷及其執行狀況:二、「皇民化運動」下，各劇種之消長、美學演變與觀眾反應:三、「皇民化劇」的戲劇理念與編劇策略。在中日戰爭的背景下，筆者發現，這四年間臺灣戲劇的情勢，既非純然黑暗也非完全停滯，而是混合著斷裂、交混與成長的經驗。在殖民者的大方向箝制下，它在戲劇創作與市場機制上仍保有一部分的自主性空間。它的變化不僅反映「皇民化運動」的具體內容，也體現殖民現代化過程中臺灣文化的面貌。這段時期臺灣戲劇的發展影響深遠，近者引發1941年間有關「臺灣戲劇」應往何處去的熱烈討論、刺激三年後戰中新劇運動的復興，遠者影響戰後歌仔戲與新劇的美學發展，堪稱臺灣戲劇史的一個關鍵年代。

The latter period of Japanese colonial rule has long been considered a “dark age” in the history of Taiwanese theater, when the colonial government cut off Taiwanese theatrical traditions abruptly, and dominated the whole theatrical development with its radical assimilation policy called Kominka. This article reexamines the theatrical activities under the Kominka Movement in its first four years, and focuses its discussion on the following aspects: 1. the formation, transformation and execution of theater policies by the colonial government; 2. the rises and falls among different theater genres during the Kominka Movement, along with their aesthetic evolutions and audience responses; 3. the ideas and strategies of the Kominka Drama. The development of Taiwanese theater during these four years, as I find, was not in total darkness or stagnation, but underwent at one time or another disruption, fusion and growth. Under the general control of the colonial government, theatrical activities still retained certain degrees of liberty in terms of creativity and marketing. Their changes reflect not only the specific contents of the Kominka Movement, but also the cultural developments in Taiwan under the colonial modernization. They inspired the discussions in 1941 about where Taiwanese theater should go, which led to the revival of the New Theater Movement three years later, and their aesthetic influences extended further into the Taiwanese opera and the New Theater during the postwar period. “Dark” as it appears, this era carries its underestimated significance in the history of Taiwanese theater, and deserves to be re-evaluated.