What is Kabuki drama?
Kabuki is a popular Japanese theater form which experts date back to 17th century Kyoto, at the beginning of the Edo period. The drama employs vivid, elaborate costumes and makeup, archetypal characters, intense physical gestures and movement, songs and a drone-like vocal delivery of dialogue. Kabuki plays are scripted, and may focus on historical events, romances or ethical conflicts. Traditional Japanese musical instruments accompany the action, including various drums and the shamisen (a three-stringed lute). Why do men play women in Kabuki productions? On moral grounds, women were banned from Japanese theater in 1629, and all Kabuki roles were entrusted to men. Though the ban ended long ago, the tradition of the onnagata (male actor who specializes in playing women) endures. What kind of stage is used for Kabuki? Many Kabuki theaters in Japan have rotating stages with trap doors, for quick changes and exits. The traditional Kabuki stage also has a hanamachi (“flower-walk”), a walkw
