Kabuki Theatre
-1 The Resilience Of Tradition
When examining theatre and the various forms it has been subject to over the course of human history, it would be difficult not to mention the work and art of the Japanese theatre. Japan's stylized kabuki form is a timeless practice in the theatre that began in the early 17th century and continue still today. This ability to preserve a form of theatre for hundreds of years, definitely highlights Japan as a unique locale for theatre. Although, when looking at all the elements that surround and make up kabuki theatre, it is rather easy to understand why the form sill exists and is appreciated today. And through investigating the history of kabuki theatre, we can discover why it is as relevant today as 400 years ago. The specifics around the origins of kabuki theatre are a little muddled, but there is enough information to know that it arose indirectly from a female performer. Around 1603 Okuni began to give public performances in Kyoto. The performances consisted of short plays punctuated with dance.1 When kabuki theatre was developing amidst the Edo Era, discrepancies between the upper class and the lower class were more strictly observed than at any other point in Japanese history. At that point though it was more so the merchants who developed the kabuki theatre. Although they were gaining power economically, they still retained their lower social status. They essentially used kabuki as an artistic median to articulate their thoughts and feelings under the existing conditions. Therefore, one of the underlying themes of the kabuki works is about the struggle between humanity and the feudal system. It can mainly be attributed to this humanist trait of the style and work, as to why it gained a most favorable response from the majority of people back then and why it remains an appreciated form today. Its worth mentioning that before the kabuki form was adopted into a full-fledged theatrical style, it actually began to take shape
When examining theatre and the various forms it has been subject to over the course of human history, it would be difficult not to mention the work and art of the Japanese theatre. Japan's stylized kabuki form is a timeless practice in the theatre that began in the early 17th century and continue still today. This ability to preserve a form of theatre for hundreds of years, definitely highlights Japan as a unique locale for theatre. Although, when looking at all the elements that surround and make up kabuki theatre, it is rather easy to understand why the form sill exists and is appreciated today. And through investigating the history of kabuki theatre, we can discover why it is as relevant today as 400 years ago. The specifics around the origins of kabuki theatre are a little muddled, but there is enough information to know that it arose indirectly from a female performer. Around 1603 Okuni began to give public performances in Kyoto. The performances consisted of short plays punctuated with dance.1 When kabuki theatre was developing amidst the Edo Era, discrepancies between the upper class and the lower class were more strictly observed than at any other point in Japanese history. At that point though it was more so the merchants who developed the kabuki theatre. Although they were gaining power economically, they still retained their lower social status. They essentially used kabuki as an artistic median to articulate their thoughts and feelings under the existing conditions. Therefore, one of the underlying themes of the kabuki works is about the struggle between humanity and the feudal system. It can mainly be attributed to this humanist trait of the style and work, as to why it gained a most favorable response from the majority of people back then and why it remains an appreciated form today. Its worth mentioning that before the kabuki form was adopted into a full-fledged theatrical style, it actually began to take shape