歌舞伎 (Kabuki) Theater

Do you recall the play I wrote about a few entries back, the play in which two lovers end up committing suicide in order to be together in the next world because they can't be together in this world? Well, yesterday I went to a theater in Kyoto City and saw that play, "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," performed live by kabuki actors. Kabuki is a form of Japanese theater that was created a few centuries ago and is still highly popular due to its being made for common people and its use of techniques that makes it engaging and appealing to watch. While other forms of traditional Japanese theater consist of subtle movements, simple costumes, and masks, kabuki relies on fast-paced dance and acrobatics, vivid costumes, and elaborate makeup to help appeal to audience members.

The four hour long performance I saw yesterday consisted of one famous act from one play, the entire production of "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," and finally a dance from an interlude of a noh play (noh is a different type of traditional Japanese theater). The plays were difficult to understand because they were all in Japanese, and unlike the puppet theater performance I saw earlier this year, there were no supertitles from which I could try to read and decipher meaning. But the dialogues were interesting and fast-paced, which kept my attention, and of course the costumes and makeup were also quite appealing to the eye. As for the performance of the entire play "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," I was glad I had read the script before because it helped me understand what I couldn't pick up from the characters' dialogues. Also, since the story is a tragedy, not a comedy, it seemed that, contrary to my expectations, there were less dance and acrobatic movements than I expected.

One unique part of kabuki theater is the audience participation. In other forms of Japanese theater, such as noh or puppet theater, the audience sits quietly and listens. But during kabuki performances, the audience is expected to remark upon the performance by yelling loudly during certain parts if the audience likes what the actors do or if the audience reacts strongly to certain parts of the performance. I wish I could have understood what the audience members were yelling, but there was a particularly vocal man about two rows behind me, and whenever an actor did a particularly great job portraying a difficult scene, the man shouted what I believe was his approval. I was also impressed with the actors' abilities to concentrate despite the audience members yelling at unexpected times.