Sunday, January 27, 2013

My Experience with Japanese Theater: Kabuki

Two nights ago, Host Mom and I took a trip to see traditional Japanese-style theater: kabuki! I've heard that it's something of an "acquired taste" so I was worried I wouldn't like it. However, I figured I have to take my chances while I'm here, so I went for it! Plus, if my Host Mom was going, why not tag along? I was pleasantly surprised to find that I extremely enjoyed myself :)

Here's a really neat video explaining the distinctive features of kabuki and shows portions of the "fox" play I saw:


The theater was in the heart of Osaka, bustling with excitement. The delicious smell of takoyaki and ramen wafted past me; it was a shame I had just eaten lunch! The crowd was let into the theater around 3:30pm, and the performance started at 4pm. The entire thing was broken into 3 different parts: dance, mini-play, and traditional kabuki.

The "dance" portion was the shortest, lasting only about 30min. It's called Sanbanshou (三番

叟), and is often performed during the new year. It tells the story of a nobleman setting up a puppet to dance for him. The puppet dances- twisting, turning, and eventually gets his strings tied up. The nobleman tries to fix him, but doesn't seem to be able to. 




Dancing doll

The second part, the "mini-play," was a sort of comedy. The story details the worries of a small village during the feudal era. Choube, their "village idiot" drinks all day, steals horses and nuns, and causes mayhem wherever he goes. One day, the local feudal lord visits the village, demanding they tell him who stabbed one of his samurai guards. The village has tied up Choube, tells the lord they have no one like that in their village, but Choube breaks free and bravely tells the lord it was he who stabbed that samurai! Surprisingly, instead of punishing Choube, the feudal lord rewards him by making him one of his honorary guards. It was a hilarious story with plenty of breaking props on stage. 


Mystical fox


After a 30min intermission, the final story started. It was a beautiful tale of a magical fox and drum. There was acrobatics, 2-second costume changes, and amazing stunts. I couldn't take my eyes away! 


It's a long video, so in case you don't want to watch the whole thing I picked some key points: 6:30; 8:00; 10:00 to the end. Hope you enjoy it! 

 

The costumes and sets blew me away. The expertise of the kabuki actors themselves was also extremely impressive; I could tell how many years of experience and practice they have put into their work. An interesting fact about the actors is that it runs in the family; in order to be recognized as a major kabuki actor, one must come from a long line of kabuki actors. I thought that was pretty intense! No wonder they're all so wonderful at what they do! :) Kabuki was an amazing experience, and I hope more people will give it a chance! 


Inside the theater! During the intermissions, we ate our lunch boxes in our seats. It was pretty cool :)





1 comment:

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