In the beginning of the 17th century, Japan closed its doors and isolated itself from the world, becoming very rigid, around the same time kabuki started becoming popular. Kabuki is a “colorful and melodramatic form of theatre”(Leonardand). The rulers of Japan were enforcing a political status quo but people wanted bizarre and bright things. The merchants were forbidden by the government to wear “excited” clothes or change their profession, so they were amazed by the Kabuki performances and the exaggerated costumes. Kabuki is very unique and different from other Japanese theatres including Noh and Bunraku (puppet theatre). The acting is so stylized that it looks like dance. Kabuki plays can be compared to Shakespeare plays, in which the characters are usually already familiar to the audience, and the language is often old and hard to follow. Puppet theatre also influenced Kabuki acting, reflecting the maturity of society. Kabuki later replaced puppet theatre as the main source of entertainment. Popular dramas were erotic and grotesque or about mysterious or exploited heroes. China influenced Japan in many ways but not with Kabuki theatre. The Chinese actors only played a minor role and China never had a similar form of theatre. Kabuki was different than the other Asian theatres at the time. Noh theatre used structured movements instead of natural expressions. Chinese Opera masked actors’ features and expressions so they never reached Kabuki’s popularity.
Standard male roles consist of the handsome lover, virtuous hero, and the evil samurai. Standard female roles consist of the high ranking samurai lady, the young maiden, and the wicked woman. The tachiyaki is a term for heroes and leading actors. The katakiyaku describes the enemy. Actors/actresses were celebrities and fashion icons; people would cheer for their favorites and throw them gifts. The actors played a major role in making Kabuki successful.
There were many ways the audience interacted with the actors. They made fan clubs for their favorites. Also every role in a play was given to a family of actors and the role was passed down through generations. Each family was identified by a coat of arms. Famous actors were very important and had many fans. At specific times during the performance, people often shouted names at actors for support. Yago was a hereditary stage name with a theatre group. The plays took place in big cities like Edo, Osaka, Kyoto, and also locally in towns.
Topics of Plays:
There is a variety of topics ranging from realistic tragic drama to adventure. The popular types of plays included those where a clever commoner would outsmart his social superior, or when there was a physical combat or love story between the social classes. Very few plays deal with realistic/topical problems, and productions are extremely stylized and traditional. The dialogue of the story does not have as much importance as how well the actors portray their characters. Plays are a presentation of emotional situations, commentary on society, moral conflicts, love stories, conspiracies, and historical events. The stories of all the plays are well known. Sometimes only the best scenes were shown. Most plays revolve around Buddhist and Confucian beliefs/ideas. Many of the events that occur in the plays would be frowned upon if people had done them in real life. Plays consist of a dance in the middle of the shows featuring ghosts, courtesans, exotic creatures, and end with another dance finale. Kabuki also contains a variety of episodes which tie in together to form the climax.
Actors wouldn't use a text; along the way they decided what the story would be. This differs from bunraku which uses a definite text. In Kabuki, actors could write their own lines and it became accustomed for authors to write special parts for specific actors. The structure is very loose so scenes were taken out all the time. Since plays are 10 hours long, only 3 or 4 of the best scenes are performed. Performances last an entire day, and everyone would come watch; they were excited to come see the plays because they touched their hearts.
Origins:
In the early 17th century, Okuni, a female dancer, created a group of female performers who would present dramatic shows for commoners. The actresses doubled as prostitutes and people came for their off stage sexual encounter. Then in 1629, women were banned from performing these shows because they were too suggestive. The government thought that the actresses were causing a decline in public morals so they got young men to take their places. However the government didn’t think this was appropriate either so young men were also banned in 1652. Old men were the only people who got to play the roles in the shows and this tradition has persisted to modern times. This caused the focus to shift from sexual dance to more of a theatrical performance, increasing the development of acting. Still Kabuki was strictly regulated/censored by Tokugawa shogun because he feared that it would cause social disruption of the ruling class. As a result, Kabuki was restricted to certain areas. The shogun also banned the depiction of current events especially those involving samurai and affairs. Mitate was when the names of characters and the setting of the event were changed. However the real identity of the people was obvious, so this allowed commoners to to criticize the ruling class. Yatsushi was when a major figure of a play appears first in disguise and then later reveals his true identity during a crucial moment. This as well as mitate allows commoners to portray current events without breaking rules. This laid the foundation for the rise of Kabuki theatre.