What: Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo presents this full-length play in three parts across the month of October. Each part has two acts. We bought a ticket to see the first act of part two (they sell day-of single-act tickets for seats in the fourth tier)
And? One of my big Must Needs for my recent visit to Japan with some friends was that I got to see some classic Japanese theater. We ended up seeing this on our first day, which was both good (made sure it happened) and bad (hooboy, the jetlag). So I can't tell you precisely what the story was that we saw (especially as I opted not to use the subtitle tablet), but it was still a cool experience to see all the elements of Kabuki on display: the elaborate makeup and vocal stylings, the Reciter and musicians to the side of the stage, the hanamichi leading to the front of the stage from the left. Also interesting were what the audience applauded, even when we didn't know why: particular character entrances, or sequences. I couldn't follow the plot especially in scenes where the performers stayed very still (and were so far away I couldn't see who was speaking), but I very much enjoyed the extended battle sequence, which had impressive and elaborate choreography.
