Kabuki

• Japanese: 歌舞伎 (kabuki)

Kabuki is, along with Noh and ningyô jôruri (aka bunraku), one of the three most prominent forms of traditional Japanese theater. Emerging around 1603 and developing into something very closely resembling its current form by 1800, kabuki remains strong today.

Unlike the Noh theatre, which grew out of ritual dances, and which is more symbolic, poetic, spiritual, and more serious in tone, focusing strongly on the strict performance of set forms (kata), kabuki is a more purely narrative form, focusing on telling an understandable story and providing the audience with an entertaining spectacle. While the Noh features a more reserved, minimalist aesthetic, and while the puppet theatre is by its very nature necessarily somewhat small-scale, kabuki makes use of a fuller arrangement of elaborate stage sets and multiple set changes; large casts; bold costumes and, sometimes, multiple costume changes; and an extensive orchestra (known as a hayashi) accompanied by an array of devices for various sound effects.

A colorful and bombastic style of theatre, kabuki makes extensive use of bold face makeup patterns called kumadori; special effects including trap doors and wirework, known as [[keren]; dramatic poses called mie; a distinctive form of chanting; and bold, sometimes rather over-the-top costumes.

Kabuki was a core element of Edo period urban popular culture, intimately intertwined with ukiyo-e woodblock prints and popular publishing, and the culture of pleasure districts such as the Yoshiwara. Though some plays are set in the historical past, nearly all adapt the historical narrative to a contemporary Edo period setting, making kabuki an excellent source for experiencing and understanding Edo period material culture, albeit a trumped-up, over-the-top stage version of it.

Performance Style

Costumes, makeup, dance, mie, special effects

Plays

Jidaimono, sewamono. Juhachiban.

History

Onna-kabuki, wakushu-kabuki, yarô-kabuki

Licensed theatre system, censorship

Jishibai

Meiji, post-war, today, rebuilding of Kabuki-za