Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Bruce Gulland and I'm Megan Nolette. Spotlight uses
a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live. Queen. A group of people sit
in a theater. A curtain hangs across the stage where actors will perform.
The people speak quietly. Suddenly there is a loud noise. The people watching
go quiet. There is another noise, and another. They come faster and
faster, then just as quickly they stop. The curtain opens. A man
stands alone on the stage. He balances on one leg. His arms are
above his head. He wears very bright clothing. His face is painted in
strange black and white lines. Music plays. The man begins to speak.
This is the beginning of a kabuki play. Kabuki is a special kind of
theater from Japan. It uses a very different style of acting than most people
know. Today's Spotlight is on kabuki theater. Kabuki theater is a historic art
form from Japan. There are special theaters where people only perform kabuki. Some
actors are only kabuki actors. They play the same characters that their family has
played for generations, but kabuki was not so ceremonial in the beginning. Instead,
kabuki began as a kind of street theater. The first actors did not
even use a building. Instead, the plays took place on the banks of
a dried river. Izumo No Ukuni was a dancer who lived in the fifteenth
century. She brought together these first plays. At first, kabuki was mostly
song and dance, and Okuni performed by herself. But next Okuni began to
gather other women around her. Many of these women were sex workers, or
they were people who did not fit into society. Okuni trained them to dance,
She taught them to sing and act. Soon these women operated larger shows.
The women would put on clothes to look like priests or soldiers. Sometimes
they would make fun of these important people. Sometimes they would act out love
stories. These plays became very popular. They were funny, bright, and
often sexual. Other groups began to copy o Kooney's style. Soon people all
over Japan were performing kabuki. Akooney retired from performing in sixteen ten. She
was like a film star, but her kind of kabuki would not last.
Even after it was popular, many kabuki actors were still sex workers. Many
people did not like that these workers were performing. They believed it was bad
for people watching and that it would make the men who watched act badly.
In sixteen twenty nine, the Japanese government stepped in. They banned women from
performing in kabuki, but kabuki did not go away. Instead, men took
on a kuny style. They built theaters, they began writing full plays.
Slowly, kabuki turned into a very particular kind of show. Actors would wear
bright clothing, and they would paint their faces with bright colors. The clothing
and face paint would show what kind of character they were playing. A characteristic
of kabuki actors is the use of white makeup base for the face. This
makes the contrast with the other colors painted on the face more distinct. An
evil person would paint themselves to look frightening. A funny character would seem like
they were always smiling. Acting in kabuki sai, it is also very stylized.
If the play has a fight, it does not look like a real
fight. Instead, the actors will dance. Kabuki also treats emotion differently.
Today, many actors will try to show emotion as realistically as they can.
They cry when their character is sad, they smile when the character is happy.
But in kabuki, actors show strong emotions through their bodies. To do
this, they will make poses called mia. Each mia shows what the character
is feeling. Some actors will use the same mia in many different plays.
Kabuki theater also started using difficult stage tricks. In seventeen thirty six, kabuki
theaters started using moving stages. These stages could go around in a circle or
move up and down. Some used trapdoors, and in the early eighteenth century,
kabuki theaters began using something called a hanamichi. Hanamichi is a raised bridge
that goes from the back of the room to the stage. Many actors would
enter over the hanamichi. They would act out scenes above people's heads. Even
today, most kabuki theaters have a hanamichi. It is one of the most
important parts of kabuki staging. The stories told in kabuki theater also grew more
complex. There are many different kinds of kabuki plays. Some are funny,
some are based on Japanese history. Others show religious stories. One of the
most famous kabuki plays is called The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, but many English
translations call it the forty seven Ronan. The forty seven Ronan is based on
Japanese history. The play begins when an official of the Japanese ruler or shogun,
insults a man named Hagan. Hagan is the lord of a small area
of the country, but he is of lower class than the official. In
his anger, Hagan attacks the official. Neither man is hurt, but the
shogun decides to punish Hagan. He orders Hargan to kill himself. He dismisses
all of Hagan's soldiers, and he gives Hagan's land to another lord. Hagan
does not believe this punishment is right. He believes the shogun should punish the
official too, but Hagan is very loyal. He kills himself with his own
sword, but as he dies, he speaks to the head of his soldiers,
named Uranoskey. Hagan tells Uranoskey to make the official pay for his wrongs.
The rest of the play follows Uranosuke and forty seven soldiers. These men
have no master, but they are loyal to Hagan. They plan to kill
the official who wronged him. At the end of the play, they attack
the official's home. They find and defeat him. The play shows this as
a heroic act. The soldiers did not have to do what their lord asked,
but they do what they believe is right. Today, kabuki theater is
not as popular as it once was. Most kabuki plays use very old language.
It is difficult for people to understand. Kabuki programs also last for a
very long time. Originally, some plays could last for ten hours. Many
theaters do not perform for this long now, but the plays still last for
much of the day. Still, kabuki theater continues to change. One Piece
and Naruto are important Japanese comics or manga. They are popular all over the
world. Some theaters have made kabuki versions of these manga. Ebizo Ichikawa is
a famous kabuki actor. He has even written a kabuki version of Star Wars.
He spoke to nipon dot com about the change is happening in kabuki.
Of course, it is still important to protect the good old things in our
co but we cannot let people believe that kabuki is an artful looked in a
box, you cannot view it calmly without making a sound. To change how
people understand our art will be very difficult, I think, but it is
something that has to be done for Kabuki's sake. Kabuki is important because of
its history, but it is also important because it is different. Kabuki offers
a particular style of song, dance and acting, with colorful costumes, makeup,
and specially built theatrical stages. Kabuki maintains theatrical traditions that combine with new
adaptations for modern storytelling. No other kind of performance in the world is like
kabuki. That, more than anything else, is what makes it leave its
mark on the world. Does your country have a special kind of theater when
did it develop? Tell us about it. You can leave a comment on
our website or email us at Radio at Radio English dot net. You can
also comment on Facebook at Facebook dot com, slash Spotlight Radio. The writer
of this program was Dan Chrisman. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices
you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were
adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program
again and read it on the internet at www dot Radio English dot net.
This program is called Entertainment around the World Kabougi Theater. You can also get
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English app. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,