Kabuki

400 years of Kabuki:

August, 2003. Ancient kabuki music reverberates around the Shijo district of the city of Kyoto. On the eastern bank of the Kamogawa River is a traditional Noh stage, where a woman in male apparel dances. Two men prance madly around the set; one in the robes of traditional kyogen theatre, the other in a striking costume. The scene dates back to the aesthetics of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1603).

This was one of the revival performances of kabuki held on August 2 and 3 this year to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of kabuki. The dance and the music have always had tremendous mass appeal, and kabuki reached the height of its maturity in the Edo period. Even today it remains a highly popular traditional performing art.

The revival performances attempted to recreate the original atmosphere of the very first performance. The show was put on with the cooperation of the Kyoto prefectural and city authorities, and it was made possible by the efforts of the Kansai Gakugeki ("Music and Drama") Festival Association.

Kazuhiko Kasaya, Director of the Association, explains the reasons for the revival: "On this 400th anniversary, we want to re-examine the origins that made kabuki such a popular form of entertainment. By tracing history we are hoping to gain some valuable insights into the possible future course of traditional Japanese performing arts."

Although a revival, the show followed the course of kabuki's history. There were artists from a wide range of performing backgrounds, including former and current favourites from the Takarazuka Revue Show, comedians, kyogen performers, traditional Japanese musicians, and even jazz singers.

Professor Kyoko Ogasawara of Musashi University, an authority on Okuni, was responsible for scripting the show. She praises Okuni's particular form of genius: "What set Okuni apart was her ability to incorporate the very latest trends and customs of the time into her stage performances.

Before Okuni, the traditional Noh stage was a place of religious significance, which served to welcome the gods back from their far-away abode. Okuni dispensed with the gods, depicting instead the secular world."

Okuni carefully observed the new and strange hairstyles, costumes and manners of the samurai warrior class, skillfully incorporating the characteristics of these trendsetters into her performances. In the short play Cha-ya Gayoi ("Calling in at the Teahouse").

Which made Okuni famous, she plays a fashionable young samurai man. He sets off to the pleasure quarters, where he is met by the owner, a female part played by a man. The ensuring interplay of reversed roles appealed greatly to the audiences of the time.

Okuni's brand of kabuki didn't end merely with the depiction of popular manners and customs. "Okuni even led the forms of Noh and kyogen into new directions," points out Mannojo Nomura, stage director and performer of the Izumi school of traditional kyogen.

"Kabuki incorporated many of the dance routines and music of kyogen, and the accompanying musical instruments were exactly the same as those used in Noh-the fue (a type of flute), the ko-tsuzumi (a small drum held at the shoulder), the o-tsuzumi (a small drum placed on the lap), and thetaiko (a large drum place on the floor).

Kabuki was performed on a Noh stage, although Okuni placed a curtain at the rear of her stage to cover up the traditional backdrop of pine trees which always feature in Noh as a symbol of the deities. By designing her own stage settings, Okuni did always with the authority associated with Noh performances."

Kabuki was flexible and adaptable, making changes to more traditional art forms. This may be the secret of Kabuki's success, allowing it to overcome periods of official control and censorship.

The August performance showed the different types of kabuki that have come and gone over the years, and the final scene brought back all the performers from different periods, who gathered together on stage for one last song and dance routine.

After the final curtain the empty stage was reflected shimmering on the surface of the river, evoking memories of the gleeful faces of audiences from bygone ages. On that night, Okuni's style of kabuki provided a powerful wake-up call to the various forms of traditional performing arts lying dormant in the Kyoto area.