|
KABUKI Kabuki uses themes from other Japanese theater such as Noh, Kyogen, and Bunraku. Kabuki plays generally depict the lives of the samurai or the troubles of the common man. Kabuki theaters always display the title of the current play on a long banner hanging from the theater building. In Kabuki, stagehands are visible: The audience is expected to disregard them. Stagehands, dressed all in black with covered faces, are called kurogo - their job is to help the actors with props and scenery. Stagehands with uncovered faces are kooken - they help the characters by adjusting their costumes at appropriate times and by moving props. Kabuki actors use stage names that date from the Edo Period, a time when only samurai were allowed to use family names. To distinguish between stage names, each actor is given a yago or "house identification name." During a mie audience members frequently shout the actor's yago in support. Another staple of kabuki is the characteristic walk of actors on stage. This walk, ropo, involves the movement of the same-side arm and leg move together. Ropo can indicate that character's status or emotional state. Some actors, called onnagata, undertake many years of special training to play female roles. During the play major characters enter and exit using the hanamichi,
a runway that extends from stage right to the rear of the theater
(also called the "flower path"). A stage curtain of orange,
black and green stripes, jooshikimaku, is pulled from stage right
to stage left. |
At
the beginning of a Kabuki play, the sakusha (another stagehand)
creates a clacking sound by clapping two wooden sticks, hyoshigi,
together to make the sound of ki or striking them on a board
to make the sound of tsuke. A fast-tempo ki can signify the
curtain being drawn, an actor running on stage, or an actor striking
a mie (a moment where the actor freezes and tenses his body
to signify dramatic importance). Audiences usually applaud and cheer
for a mie.
