KABUKI
Kabuki is said to have originated with Okuni, a female attendant at the Izumo shrine in Kyoto, who first led her mostly female company in performances on the dry bed of the Kamogawa river in 1603. Kabuki means ‘unusual' or ‘shocking', and it quickly became the most popular form of theatre in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Japan. However, concerns over the sexual antics of the entertainers, on and off stage, meant that women performers were banned in 1629; now all kabuki actors are male. Women's parts are taken by onnagata (specialists in female roles), who portray a stylised feminine beauty. There is no pretence of realism, so the actor's real age is irrelevant – there is no incongruity in a 75-year-old man portraying an 18-year-old maiden.
Of all the traditional performing arts in Japan, kabuki is probably the most exciting. The actor is the most important element in kabuki, and everything that happens on stage is a vehicle for displaying his prowess. Koken, stage hands dressed in black, symbolising their supposed invisibility, hand the actor props, make running adjustments to his heavy costume and wig, and bring him a stool to perch on during long speeches or periods of inactivity.
Most kabuki programmes feature one shosagoto dance piece, one jidaimono and one sewamono. Jidaimono are dramas set in pre-Edo Japan. They feature gorgeous costumes and colourful make-up called kumadori, which is painted along the lines of the actor's face. The actor uses melodramatic elocution, but because jidaimono originated in the puppet theatre, the plays also feature accompaniments from a chanter who relates the storyline and emotions of the character, while the actor expresses them in movement, facial expressions or poses. Sewamono are stories of everyday life during the Edo period and are closer in style to Western drama.
Every kabuki theatre features a hanamichi, an elevated pathway for the performers that runs through the audience from the main stage to the back of the theatre. This is used for entrances and exits, and contains a trap door through which supernatural characters emerge.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/art/Kabuki
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