Changes

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.]]

[[File:Kabukiza-curtains.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The distinctive black, green, and orange 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>

The distinctive green, black, and orange 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> This standard design was used at the [[Ichimura-za]] throughout much of the Edo period.<ref>Plaque at former site of the Ichimura-za, Asakusa 6-18-13.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/10568776875/in/dateposted-public/]</ref>

Traditionally, in the 18th-19th centuries, kabuki theaters were two- or three-story buildings, with multiple floors of dressing rooms and reception rooms. An attached teahouse, called a ''[[shibai jaya]]'', provided a space for theatergoers to eat, drink, and talk before, after, and during performances, as well as to make reservations for performances, and sometimes to meet with actors. The main floor of seating in front of the stage was divided up into boxes, called ''masugata'' seats, where people gathered in groups, eating, drinking, and cavorting while watching the play. It was only in the Meiji period that Western-style row seats were introduced. Second- or third-story seating often included bamboo blinds or screens, to allow high-ranking samurai and other elites to watch the performances without being seen themselves. A drum tower (''yagura'') atop the theater sounded out drumbeats announcing days when there would be a performance. Performances typically went on during the day, and torches were used to light the stage at night; over the course of the Edo period, the shogunate repeatedly attempted to mandate that performances end before nightfall, both for reasons of public morality, and because of the danger of fire, but they also repeatedly relented or eased up on such regulations. Many of these features of the theater architecture have been revived, or maintained, in theaters such as the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, which for example, maintains a ''yagura'' and an attached teahouse; some of these other features, such as the box seats, can perhaps be seen today only at the [[Kanamaru-za]] in [[Kotohira]], [[Kagawa prefecture]], the oldest kabuki theater still in operation today.

Traditionally, in the 18th-19th centuries, kabuki theaters were two- or three-story buildings, with multiple floors of dressing rooms and reception rooms. An attached teahouse, called a ''[[shibai jaya]]'', provided a space for theatergoers to eat, drink, and talk before, after, and during performances, as well as to make reservations for performances, and sometimes to meet with actors. The main floor of seating in front of the stage was divided up into boxes, called ''masugata'' seats, where people gathered in groups, eating, drinking, and cavorting while watching the play. It was only in the Meiji period that Western-style row seats were introduced. Second- or third-story seating often included bamboo blinds or screens, to allow high-ranking samurai and other elites to watch the performances without being seen themselves. A drum tower (''yagura'') atop the theater sounded out drumbeats announcing days when there would be a performance. Performances typically went on during the day, and torches were used to light the stage at night; over the course of the Edo period, the shogunate repeatedly attempted to mandate that performances end before nightfall, both for reasons of public morality, and because of the danger of fire, but they also repeatedly relented or eased up on such regulations. Many of these features of the theater architecture have been revived, or maintained, in theaters such as the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, which for example, maintains a ''yagura'' and an attached teahouse; some of these other features, such as the box seats, can perhaps be seen today only at the [[Kanamaru-za]] in [[Kotohira]], [[Kagawa prefecture]], the oldest kabuki theater still in operation today.