Kabuki

This collection of video clips about the traditions, techniques, and aesthetics of Japanese Kabuki theater is included in the Drama Arts Toolkit.

What Is Kabuki?

Shozo Sato, Kabuki master, provides an overview of Kabuki, pointing out major characteristics (such as male actors, stylized acting, audience) and distinguishing it from Noh theater, the other classical Japanese theatrical style.

Suggested Uses:
Identify elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.
Compare/contrast Kabuki theater with Western theater and/or with Elizabethan theater.
Use as a prompt for researching Japanese cultural history.

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The Actor’s Technique

Shozo Sato describes Kabuki acting technique and the training the all-male performers go through in order to learn how to act male, female, young, and old. He demonstrates vocal inflections and actual movements—walking, how the head is held, poses—of various Kabuki characters, including the differences between male and female characters. He also demonstrates the transformation of a female character from her teens to her 30s.

Suggested Uses:
Analyze the functions and meanings of Kabuki vocalization and acting styles.
Identify and analyze elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.

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Kabuki Makeup

As he applies makeup to actor Michael Goldberg, Shozo Sato talks about how makeup is applied and how colors and lines help suggest character. Goldberg portrays Macbeth in the Shakespeare scene performed Kabuki-style.

Suggested Uses:
Analyze the function and meaning of Kabuki makeup.
Identify and analyze elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.
Compare to the stock characters of commedia dell’arte or the use of masks in Greek theater.

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Kabuki Fan Symbolism

Shozo Sato discusses the origin of fan use in Kabuki theater and demonstrates the common usage and symbolism of the various fan movements.

Suggested Uses:
Analyze the functions and meanings of Kabuki fan movements.
Identify and analyze elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.

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Shakespeare Meets Kabuki: Scene Introduction

Shozo Sato has created “American Kabuki” in an effort to help Americans understand and appreciate this art form. In this segment, he explains how he adapts well-known Western classics, such as a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. He also introduces the scene from Macbeth that two actors will perform in the next excerpt.

Suggested Uses:
Identify and analyze elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.
Compare/contrast Kabuki theater to Western theater.

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Scene from Macbeth, Kabuki-Style

In this scene from Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are plotting the murder of Duncan. Chicago actors Michael Goldberg and Barbara Robertson perform the two roles. Shozo Sato staged this adaptation.

Suggested Uses:
Identify and analyze elements of production and performance.
Introduce characteristics of Kabuki theater for students to identify and analyze, focusing on how diverse cultures, periods, and styles affect drama or how Kabuki is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition.
Compare/contrast Kabuki theater to Western theater.
Analyze Kabuki as a collaborative art form involving the visual arts, dance, music, and drama.
Analyze the function and meaning of Kabuki makeup, fan movements, vocalization, and acting styles as described in the appropriate segments and applied to the Macbeth performance.
Pair with the Hamlet scene on the Performance Excerpts videotape/DVD to compare and contrast characteristics of Shakespearean and Kabuki drama.
Use as a writing prompt, along with the “Responding to Drama” guide, to analyze and evaluate the scene from Macbeth performed Kabuki-style.

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Japanese Aesthetics

Shozo Sato provides a brief overview of Japanese aesthetics and explains the major differences between Western and Japanese aesthetics. He talks about the Japanese emphasis on stylization and the functions of art and the artist in Japanese society. He also describes “maximum art” (such as Kabuki), “minimal art” (such as haiku or a rock garden), and the need for balance in both.

Suggested Uses:
Show as an introduction to a unit on Japanese aesthetics and culture.
Use to identify and classify various Japanese art forms as “maximum” or “minimal” art.

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