KABUKI-ZA!
So! Today's an office day! And what does that mean, boys and girls? Yes! More sitting on my ass! Good job!
Well, not totally. I have a Japanese review lesson after work today, so I do have *some* purpose in sitting on my ass today. But I digress...
...For the real reason this post is being made is for the purpose of reporting what I did last Sunday: Outside of what I'd seen in videos, magazines, etc, I'd never seen a live kabuki show before. Normally, I probably wouldn't have gone, since I would have no idea what would be going on. But for this performance, the kabuki theatre, Misonoza, held a special seminar for foreigners to explain kabuki, offer a Japanese translation of the story, and to give a backstage tour after the show! Yatta!
The seminar was pretty interesting, but not that much new information that I had already learned in Japanese culture class. Learned the kanji for kabuki, though! 歌舞伎 (song, dance, skill) After that, we were herded into the theatre for the 4 HOUR performance (with two intermissions included).
Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the show (will look into it when I get home), but basically the premise was: a bandit and his follower (who is really a policeman) trick and steal a priceless incense box from a princess. Said princess then commits suicide twice by throwing herself into ravine (she fails the first time). The bandit is then recruited into a gang by a its badass boss, and together they scam money out of people. Things get hairy, though, when they're caught and try to escape. For reasons that are too complicated to explain, they eventually try to put back the incense box the bandit stole in order to atone for a past sin. Umm..but the bandit dies and the badass boss promised to give himself up eventually. :/
Uhh..yeah, that's about it. There are a few more details, but I'm sure you probably don't care. :P Ending kinda sucked, but it was still very interesting! Oh, and the princess? She was played by Nakamura Shichinosuke, the same guy who played Emperor Meiji in "The Last Samurai". He was girly in the movie, and he was girly in the play. He was born to play a girl it seems.
Afterwards, we were shown the backstage area. I even got to walk on the hanamichi (flower road) where the actors deliver important dialogue. Very cool. Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet any of the actors themselves. Would've been nice, though, since Nakamura Kanzaburo (who played the bandit) is a really famous kabuki actor. Darn...
Anyway, for those who only want to see pictures, I'm trying out my new Live Journal gallery, so here ya go. Enjoy!
Well, not totally. I have a Japanese review lesson after work today, so I do have *some* purpose in sitting on my ass today. But I digress...
...For the real reason this post is being made is for the purpose of reporting what I did last Sunday: Outside of what I'd seen in videos, magazines, etc, I'd never seen a live kabuki show before. Normally, I probably wouldn't have gone, since I would have no idea what would be going on. But for this performance, the kabuki theatre, Misonoza, held a special seminar for foreigners to explain kabuki, offer a Japanese translation of the story, and to give a backstage tour after the show! Yatta!
The seminar was pretty interesting, but not that much new information that I had already learned in Japanese culture class. Learned the kanji for kabuki, though! 歌舞伎 (song, dance, skill) After that, we were herded into the theatre for the 4 HOUR performance (with two intermissions included).
Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the show (will look into it when I get home), but basically the premise was: a bandit and his follower (who is really a policeman) trick and steal a priceless incense box from a princess. Said princess then commits suicide twice by throwing herself into ravine (she fails the first time). The bandit is then recruited into a gang by a its badass boss, and together they scam money out of people. Things get hairy, though, when they're caught and try to escape. For reasons that are too complicated to explain, they eventually try to put back the incense box the bandit stole in order to atone for a past sin. Umm..but the bandit dies and the badass boss promised to give himself up eventually. :/
Uhh..yeah, that's about it. There are a few more details, but I'm sure you probably don't care. :P Ending kinda sucked, but it was still very interesting! Oh, and the princess? She was played by Nakamura Shichinosuke, the same guy who played Emperor Meiji in "The Last Samurai". He was girly in the movie, and he was girly in the play. He was born to play a girl it seems.
Afterwards, we were shown the backstage area. I even got to walk on the hanamichi (flower road) where the actors deliver important dialogue. Very cool. Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet any of the actors themselves. Would've been nice, though, since Nakamura Kanzaburo (who played the bandit) is a really famous kabuki actor. Darn...
Anyway, for those who only want to see pictures, I'm trying out my new Live Journal gallery, so here ya go. Enjoy!