Kabuki in Japan: An interesting 4 hours...


Last Friday the JLSP students, a couple of japanese volunteers went to Ginza with Hosaka sensei and Ishimaru san to the Kabuki-za to see a kabuki version of 12th Night. I was both excited and apprehensive, since I had head that kabuki is usually long and drawn out, and that it was acid for the brain...

But go to Ginza we did. For those of you not in the know, Ginza is one of the most expensive places in tokyo: LVuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany's, Armani, etc line the streets. I found myself fixated by the most beautiful bags and purses ever. However, not even my scholaship is going to let me buy a 2700$ bag....

The Kabuki za is huge and seems like a juxtaposition- this traditional looking building in amongst the glittering stores. It is also one of the biggest things I have ever seen- 3 floors of seats, a stage twice as long and deep as any stage i have ever seen with a runway that goes out into the audience. I rented a translator to stick in my ear- would give various notes on set, music, and characters and before every monologue it would offer a quick summary of the scene.

The opening set was really quite beautiful- upstage was dominated by a large cherry tree with its blossoms ever falling. I still don't know how they did it to make them look as though they fell so naturally... There were also mirrors everywhere so at some points it seemed as though the audience was in the play, reflected as we were behind the actors. Perhaps it was the director's way of showing the fallacy of it all- we know who is in disguise, who is in love with whom, who is crazy and who is merely conniving, so we are essentially the all knowing Gods in this show.

The second scene was by far the most amazing thing i have ever seen on stage. The upstage wall opens and out comes a boat. Yes, a full fledged ship. The characters of Sebastian and Viola (Japanese names Shinnosuke and Princess Biwa, if i remember correctly) are played by the same man, so this scene showcases how amazing he is. He switches back and forth between the two roles (costumes, wig, mannerisms, and voice several times in one scene in about 20 seconds). At one point, when the brother is swept off into the ocean and floats around in the human made waves. All of a sudden, he is dressed as the sister back on the boat. Amazing.

I wish i had understood more japanese, b/c although the translator gave me a summary, it didn't explain the jokes so most of the time i didn't understand what everyone was laughing at. The big difference here between north american theatre is that you can eat in the theatre, in fact, it is encouraged. They sell bento and food out in the lobbies and people will sit around in the intermissions and eat. The play was 3 acts, totaling about 4 1/2 hours including two intermissions, so food was a necessity!

Another interesting fact was this: when kabuki actors join a troupe/theatre/etc, they take a new name from a very specific list. This name becomes their last name in their stage name and is indicative of the branch of kabuki they belong to and what generation they are. People in the cheap seats, mostly kabuki enthusiasts, will yell out an actor's o-ya, or his generation name, when he appears on stage or to cheer him on. It was really interesting to hear someone's name being yelled in the middle of a scene...

i only wish i had videotaped some it for the costumes and set were exquisite- some of the best i have ever seen...