Characteristics Kabuki is an actor's theater, and the actor's skill is all. Many foreign observers have been drawn to kabuki for its women's roles gracefully performed by male onna-gata in conformity with kabuki's longstanding tradition of banning women from the stage. Bandou Tamasaburou, for example, the most popular onna-gata in kabuki today, has also been lionized overseas. Kabuki nmes are generally hereditary, and actors' children undergo rigorous training from a very early age. Every Kabuki actor has a yagou, called out by appreciative members of the audience when he cuts an especially striking figure. Some of the most famous yaou are Naritaya (Ichikawa Danjuurou), Kouraiya (Matsumoto Koushirou), Narikomaya (nakamura Utaemon), and Otowaya (Onoe Kikugorou). Another unique feature of kabuki is the hana-michi, a long passageway running directly through the audience at the left of center stage, and having principal actors make their entrances and exits along the hana-michi helps to kraw the audience into the performance itself. Kabuki's main themes include both tales of war and court life
and everyday psychological conflicts that the townspeople can identify
with. |