Escape to myself

One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was to visit Kabuki performance and I was lucky enough to book a show here at the Kabuki-za in Ginza. It’s traditional theatre developed in the Edo period and the three plays I saw today were written in 1719. The first was the first scene of act two “Kikai-ga-Shima” of a famous play

“heiki Nyogo no Shima” by AuthorChikamatsu Monzaemon.

It’s a highly stylised form combining actors, narrator, musicians, dance and gesture. The voices of the characters are also very formalised with a distinctive declamatory intonation and the colours of costumes and make-up also point go character traits. At times the use of narrator, who also interacts with the cast, is almost Greek. Old stories often explain to a knowing audience other complexities of the plot. A wonderfully stimulating and sophisticated feast of colour, sound and texture with ritualised dance and movement. I saw a tragedy about exiled lovers, a dance celebrating autumn and a broad comedy. All sumptuous. The closed caption was excellent so I could follow the story even if the nuances were lost.

Most of the audience were Japanese and many women dressed in kimonos. I met a nice American guy who really appreciated the show too.

After that I looked around the very up-market Roppongi Hills shopping development which had a modern art gallery exhibiting Louise bourgeois.