Kabuki

I went with James to Hakata-za this morning for 11am. We easily bought our half-price student tickets for the B seating section, which afforded us a good value-for-money view. Not too far away, all the action being clearly visible, but not too expensive (about £30).

Kabuki is definitely a very unique experience: the costumes are amazing, as are their colours; the sets are simple, yet well made and sometimes even move on their own; the music is very foreign but enchanting; and the voice acting is incredible. The emotion that goes into each line must be immense as the actors create the most amazing devlivery. The pitch of speech varies from a high falsetto to a deep, low grumble, and all with comparative ease. It's a joy to listen to, even if you don't understand anything that they are saying. Even the Japanese require modern day translations via a wireless, headphone set.

The first piece was entitled "Tenmangu Natane no Goku - Shihei no Nana Warai," or "The Seven Laughs of Shihei." This was interesting since it concern the story of a man called Michizane who was exiled to Dazaifu, who who's shrine is now there. This was only a 30-minute piece, ending with the actor playing Shihei laughing manically, probably in seven different ways. He continued laughing even after the curtain had been drawn.

A small break was followed by a Kojo, or stage announcement. Twelve of the top actors of the company knelt in a line, each saying something in turn. They remained in a bowing position when not speaking. The Kojo was to celebrate the actor Nakamura Ganji III taking a new acting name of Sakata Tojuro, the name of a late 17th century acting legend.

A longer break followed, in which we wondered around the various stalls in the theatre, though we didn't buy anything. The main piece followed "Meiboku Sendai Hagi," or "The Troubles in the Date Clan." This lasted about 1hr30, though it was amazing. It told the story of how the young head of the date clan is being kept hidden by his nurse to prevent his being assassinated. She has trained her own children to taste his food before he eats to make sure that it isn't poisoned. Alas, the leader is presented with some poisoned cakes, which the nurse's son eats. A secret scroll listing all the conspiritors in the plot, though the nurse is then attacked. She survives and kills her attacker, but the scroll is stolen by a rat, who turns out to be the head of the conspiracy, and who escapes with the scroll. The great thing about this was the two children that were playing the lord and the son of the nurse. I didn't know children could be so well behaved. The son even had to play dead for about 30-minutes and he didn't flinch once! The children also speak in a different way: instead of changing their pitch frequently, they pick one very high one, and then say everything very monotonously. It's quite impressive to listen to.

Another break was followed by three dances: "Kane no Misaki" (The Temple Bell) was an abstract dance about love. The second was "Dango Uri" (The Dumpling Peddlers) and celebrates marital bliss. It opens with a lively dumpling-making demonstration that was very entertaining. The final dance was "Onna Date" (The Gallant Female Fighter) was the most impressive, and was a dance-like fight. One woman is attacked by many men, and she defeats them all. It's all quite symbolic as there is no actual fighting, but there were acrobatics: mostly forward- and back-flips. Fun to watch and a good way to end the 4hr30 minute performance.

I want to go again!