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Though today kabuki theaters are typically filled with Western-style seating, traditionally, the area today called "orchestra seating" would have been composed of ''masu-gata'' seating - a grid of square areas separated by a thin wooden rail elevated a short distance above the floor. Audience members would gather in these squares, bringing food and drink, and sitting on the floor, enjoying a somewhat picnic-like atmosphere. Productions went on all day, typically including one ''jidaimono'', and one ''sewamono'', within which the audience could expect to see at least one ''[[shosagoto]]'' dance number. Audience members would come and go, eating, drinking, chatting, and even commenting out loud about the play (including shouting at the performers). It is easy to imagine how the practice of ''kakegoe'', shouting one's excitement or appreciation of the appearance of a favorite actor or favorite dramatic moment, would have developed in such a laid-back atmosphere.
Though today kabuki theaters are typically filled with Western-style seating, traditionally, the area today called "orchestra seating" would have been composed of ''masu-gata'' seating - a grid of square areas separated by a thin wooden rail elevated a short distance above the floor. Audience members would gather in these squares, bringing food and drink, and sitting on the floor, enjoying a somewhat picnic-like atmosphere. Productions went on all day, typically including one ''jidaimono'', and one ''sewamono'', within which the audience could expect to see at least one ''[[shosagoto]]'' dance number. Audience members would come and go, eating, drinking, chatting, and even commenting out loud about the play (including shouting at the performers). It is easy to imagine how the practice of ''kakegoe'', shouting one's excitement or appreciation of the appearance of a favorite actor or favorite dramatic moment, would have developed in such a laid-back atmosphere.
[[File:Kabukiza-curtains.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The distinctive red, green, and brown kabuki stage curtain, seen here at [[Kabuki-za]] in 2008.]]
The distinctive green, brown, black striped kabuki curtain still seen today is said to have originated when Shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] donated a ship's sail to the [[Nakamura-za]] (one of the three licensed theaters in [[Edo]]) as a reward for service, the pattern being adopted by other theaters in the [[Meiji period]].<ref>Lisa Ann M. Omoto and Kathy Welch, "Kabuki Spectacle," in ''101 Years of Kabuki in Hawai'i'', University of Hawaii (1994), 50. </ref>
Stage layout (hanamichi; origins of the distinctive style of curtain), Costumes, makeup, dance, mie, special effects
Stage layout (hanamichi; origins of the distinctive style of curtain), Costumes, makeup, dance, mie, special effects