Drama Appreciation \ Drama 1

Chapter 6: KABUKI and the Theatre of Asia

Facts:
-Asia has 2 1/2 times the population of the West
-Asia has more than 3 billion people.
-Asian theatre consists of Indian Drama, Sanskrit Drama, Indonesian Drama, Chinese Drama, Korean Drama, Thai Drama, Burmese Drama, and Japanese Drama (Kabuki, Nò and Bunraku).
     Asian Theatre is danced, chanted, mimed, sung and spoken. The language is always rhythmic and melodic. It is always visual and sensual. It emphasizes storytelling and myth. It is based on Hindu and Buddist culture and tradition. The formalized performances are handed down father to son (almost ALL performers are male). It is deeply traditional in folk history, ancient religions and cultural myth. It involves masks and elaborate costumes. All Kabuki actors can trace thier lineage back to the 1600's.
JAPAN and KABUKI
     · Kabuki as a theatre form was created in the 1600's (Shakespeare's time in England).
     · Kabuki reached its zenith in the Shogun dominated Edo era (1616-1853).
     · A pure art form which has been preserved through earthquakes, war, nuclear destruction, and foriegn occupation.
THE HISTORY OF KABUKI
     · Invented about 1600 by the Kyoto shrine maiden, Imzumo Okuni.
     · It was an erotic dance and fashion show.
     · Had an all-woman cast in short musical skits (females played male parts).
     · The audience was drunk and lewd.
     · The word "kabuki" comes from "kabuku", meaning "tilting or askew", and refers to a renegade type of dress.
     · In 1629 Okuni's kabuki was outlawed by the Japanese government because it was entwined with prostitution. So, young attractive boy prostitutes ("catamites") were hired to perform.
     · By 1652 this was outlawed as well.
     · By 1700 adult males played kabuki.
     · They were required to shave their forelocks to demonstrate an elderly appearance (non-erotic).
     · By 1800 Kabuki was sober and dramatic, a full-fledged dramatic medium, multi-act plays, with magnificent costumes and scenery.
     · In Chinese ideographs (kanji): "KA" (dance) "BU"(dance) "KI"(skill)
     · Scripts are not read but are performed.
     Plays are a production, not a literary text.
TYPES of Kabuki Plays:
     · History plays (jidaimono/period things). Involved political events of the remote past.
     · Domestic plays (sewamono/trouble things). Involved affairs of the townspeople, merchants, lovers, and courtesans of present times. In these domestic plays Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Kabuki's greatest playwright, wrote of double suicides and domestic problems.
     · Dance dramas (shosagato). The most popular form today.
KABUKI and BUNRAKU (traditional Japanese Puppet Theatre).
     · National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka, Japan uses puppets for storytelling.
     · Wooden puppets are ½ life size, with moveable eyes, eyebrows, mouths and fingers.
     · Controlled by skilled operators in black dress.
     · Audience can see hooded puppeteers as they chant the recitation.
     · Lavish costumes and scenery.
     Takes 19 years to develop the vocal skill for the emotional weeping required.
KABUKI THEATRES TODAY
The National Theatre of Tokyo:
     · A type of dinner theatre where the audience eats and watches.
     · The lobby contains sushi bars.
     · Seats 2,600, some on tatumi mats.
     · The Proscenium is 90 ft. wide (much wider than western average).
Performance begins with claps of the ki (wooden blocks) and the hikamaku (curtain) is whipped across the stage.
Kabuki Scenery:
Revoloving stages, backdrops, elevators, rolling wagons with stylized design.
Kabuki Music:
"geza" is the raised music room on stage right.
Kabuki Acting:
a family business. A system called "iemoto" controls the orderly succession of family actors.
1. "Onnagata" means women-type roles performed only by men actors who have devoted years to the study. Requires a certain tilt of the head, pinched-back shoulders, a silky gait with knees bent together and toes pointing inward. The walk is rapid and silent. There must be a high-pitched, sweetly demure voice, chalk-white geisha makeup with red lips. An elaborate wig and magnificently embroidered brocade kimono is worn.
2. The softer 'wagoto' is more realistic with a gentler disposition. Actors study all of their lives. Kimono gowns are worn, sashed with 'obi' and 'zori', thronged sandals with white socks, or high wooden clogs are worn. Assistants called 'koken' dressed in black, help costume and wig changes. Wigs are elaborate.
Actor Training: Very few rehearsals (3-4 days). Lines are memorized before the first reading. Performances are 4 hours long. ACTING MOMENTS
     · Stylized gesture, behavior called 'kata' (forms)
     · 'mie', a sudden grotesque freeze (eyes cross, head shrply turned, chin tucked in, and big tgoe pointed forward). This signals the emotional climax of the scene.
     · 'tachimawari' are group kata or fight scenes.
The Kabuki Audience
     · Shouts of approval or disapproval.
     · Word 'daikon' (radish) is insulting.
     · 'kakegoe' is a shout of approval.
     · 'yago' is a special name for an actor, if shouted it is with respect.
MODERN KABUKI
     · Theatres are modern western proscenium theatres.
     · State-of-the-art lighting is used "Super Kabuki"

NO DRAMA	and KYOGEN
revered cerebral theatre high art	folk drama comic relief

both form NOGAKU

NO DRAMA
     · Highly ceremonial music and dance.
     · Mysterious, tragic, supernatural.
     · All male, masked, no texts.
     · There are 240 performed; most written by a single family 500 years ago.
     · Stage is 18 ft. square, highly polished wooden floor, curved roof, supported by wooden pillars. A painted 'yogo' pine tree is the only scenery.
     · The primary character (shite) is interrogated by the secondary character (waki).
     · All reflects deep Buddist and Shinto values.

End chapter 6

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