Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Bruce Gulland and I'm Megan no Lette. Spotlight uses
a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live. 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. Isumu No Okuni 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 created 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 Okuni's style. Soon people all over Japan
were performing kabuki. Okuni retired from performing in sixteen ten. She was like
a film star, but her kind of kobuki 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 Akuni's
style. They built theaters, they began riding 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 theater 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 trap doors, and in the early eighteenth century, kabuki theaters began
using something called a hanamichi. A 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 Hagan 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 shogan should punish the official too, but
Hagen 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 wrong The rest of the
play follows Uranosuke and forty seven soldiers. These men have no master, but
they are loyal to help. But they are loyal, but they are loyal
to Hargun. 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 laying, which 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. Ebiso ichi Ibi Ebizo Ichikawa is a famous buki actor.
He has even written a kabuki version of Star Wars. He spoke to nipon
dot com about the changes happening in kabuki. Of course, it is still
important to protect the good old things in our culture, but we cannot let
people believe that kabuki is an art form looked in the 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 a out 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 Meggio 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 Kabugi Theater. You can also get our programs delivered
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,