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Za Kabuki ( ja, ザ歌舞伎), founded in 1976 at the
Za Kabuki ( ja, ザ歌舞伎), founded in 1976 at the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, is the longest running Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
troupe outside Japan. Directed by Shun Ikeda of the ANU Japan Centre, with a cast and crew consisting mainly of ANU Japanese students, the troupe performs traditional Kabuki plays almost entirely in classical Japanese, with some English translation and ad-libs inserted to assist the mainly English-speaking audiences.
History
The tradition of annual Japanese performances at the ANU began in 1976, with the first shows taking place in the walkway between the Sports & Recreation building and the Union building. During the 1980s and 1990s, productions became increasingly elaborate, with authentic makeup and costumes, original sets and musical accompaniment, hosted at a number of the theatre facilities around the ANU campus. In 1999, Producer Suzy Styles led the Za Kabuki troupe on their first tour of Japan, with performances inNara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
and Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
. On 11 September 2001, a troupe from Kobe's Konan University
is a university on the slopes of Mount Rokkō in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. A private university with approximately 10,000 students, it offers a wide variety of programs to Japanese students, as well as an international exchange program th ...
returned the favour by performing at the ANU's Llewellyn Hall.
The 2006 production of Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
's ''Iwashiuri Koi no Hikiami'', for the first time in Za Kabuki history, featured a 7-piece orchestra, also made up predominantly of ANU Japan Centre students. The orchestra played an original score, composed specifically for the play by Thomas Spencer Hartley.
2013 marked Za Kabuki's first performance in the absence of long-time director, Shun Ikeda. Instead the role of director was taken on by third-year ANU student and former ''kuroko
are stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre, who dress all in black.
Lexical background
黒衣 primarily read kurogo, differentiating from the other readings kokui/kokue/kuroginu "black clothes", the go/gi suffix underlining the wearing i ...
'', Noriyuki Yabe. Despite the timing of the performance coinciding with exam period, the 2013 performance of Kagotsurube managed to sell over four hundred tickets in a twenty-four-hour period and was greatly praised by critics.
In 2016, the crew once again travelled to Japan, performing three shows in the Tohoku region, particularly in areas affected by the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami. The tour was highly successful and deepened ties between the club and communities in Akita, Kesennuma and Ishinomaki.
In 2017, the group conducted a performance tour in Melbourne, performing 'Topknot Bunshichi' at two venues. The shows were received well and preceded two sell-out nights in Canberra in early October.
In 2019, the group visited Cowra and performed at the Festival of International Understanding where Japan was the guest nation. The show was very well received by a large audience of school children and locals.
In 2020, the group decided to go online with their performance due to COVID-19.
Past performances
See also
*Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
* Rakugo
is a form of ''yose'', which is itself a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on a raised platform, a . Using only a and a as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long ...
References
Australian National University Kabuki Amateur theatre companies in Australia {{theatre-stub