Kabuki Theater free essay sample

Bibliography. Essay Kabuki Theater is a style of Japanese drama with very unique music, mime like actors, dancing, and they are popularly known for having only male actors, who use exaggerated gestures (Excessive use of body gestures, movements and such things in this category) and body movements to show emotions. Kabuki generally includes domestic dramas. Domestic drama expresses and focuses on the realistic everyday lives of middle or lower classes in a certain society, generally referring to the post-Renaissance ras. According to the English Communications Syllabus, domestic drama refers to a dramatic story containing an emphasis on its â€Å"characters intimate relationships and their responses to the unfolding events in their lives. † historical plays, and dance. In Kabuki Theater there are four main parts to the play; Stage design, costume design, makeup, actors and roles, and the plot. Generally Kabuki Theater uses elaborate stage designs and consist of many trap doors, platforms reaching out into the audience, secret entrances, and even rotating stages. We will write a custom essay sample on Kabuki Theater or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This can be used for dramatic entrances and stage exits such as for example a character may storm off stage from a platform that exits off into the audience. Or an actor may seem to mysteriously appear out of nowhere and shock the audience with his (or maybe her, but most likely not since as a cultural thing, Kabuki consist of only male actors. ) sudden appearance. Next comes costume and makeup which is usually used to create an energetic and colorful eye grabbing affect on the audience and they exaggerate this even more on the actors who play the bigger role. For example they may have at one point four different actors on stage and all of which are a very colorful and eye grabbing with interesting designs of clothing and makeup but say only two of the characters are actually important throughout the entire play. Then in this case those two characters will most likely have the more extravagant clothing and more colorful and attention grabbing makeup to make sure that the audience will pay more attention to those actors and feel a more emotional connection with them than the rest. This is done to signify the importance of that actor. The actors and roles in Kabuki play a big part which is a given being that it is solely based on a story being acted out by actors. Yet what is interesting about Kabuki is that nearly 100 percent of actors are men for cultural reasons. That doesnt mean that there are no female characters. Some men will also play the role of women in the play. This is called Onnagata. When men play the role of female characters. Usually whenever playing in a historical Kabuki play, Onnagata will play the role of prostitutes. This is different from most other forms of theater who do not sport Onnagata. Also a lot of acting in Kabuki is actually just dramatic movements and mime motions. Actors may be the leading role in a play and never speak the entire time. Or they may just make noises or grunts to display emotion in that way. The plot of Kabuki Theater is usually to teach of either a historical event or Japanese culture. The story usually holds lots of significance to the Japanese culture and will hold either very valuable information about their history or well known or respected â€Å"Legends† or â€Å"Folk Lore†. These could range anywhere from â€Å"historical events, warm hearted dramas, moral conflicts, love stories, tales of tragedy and conspiracy, or other well-known stories. † (Kabuki. Kabuki. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 May 2013. .) What is interesting about Kabuki theater is that they may use all of these stories but usually they will only use a portion or part of the story and not show or tell the entire thing. Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura or Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, is arguable the 3rd most popular play in the â€Å"Kabuki repertoire†. The play was originally written in 1747 for a puppet theater known as Joruri. The play was later adapted for Kabuki theater in the year of 1748. The story behind the play was taken from a classic epic known as The Tale of the Heike. Sources Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Aug. 2013. Web. 08 May 2013. . Kabuki. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2013. Web. 08 May 2013. . An Introduction to Kabuki Sets. N. p. , n. d. Web. . Kabuki. Kabuki. N. p. , n. d. Web. 08 May 2013.