Narration – Juliana & Paula
* -ACTOR SAY OR DO THIS
P - Yothitszune travels with his mistress Shizuka in search of 3 Taira generals who escapes justice at the end of the war and he considers a threa.
J- (ACT1 SCENE 1) – Yotshizune desires the Hatsun drum that is made out of his parents skin, and the retired emperor bestows it on him. However, the real reason is to create discord between Yotshitsune and his brother.
J- (ACT 1 SCENE 2) – wakaba noi naishi, her son and her retainor Kokingo sets out to find her husband, who she found out was alive.
P – (ACT 3 – 4) – Yothshitune is waiting for his brother the military leader yoritomo to convince him of his loyalty .
P – (ACT 3 – 4) – Yothshitune is waiting for his brother the military leader yoritomo to convince him of his loyalty .
*(and his brother questions why he accepted the gift of the drum. As he thought that it had an implied message being “strike the drum, strike yokitomo”. Yotiksune said he accepted it in politeness )
YOSHITZUNES WIFE KILLS HERSELF TO PROVE INNOCENSE.
J- (ACT 2 SCENE1) – Yoshitzune and some of his followers have fled to inari shime in fushimi .Yoshitszune refuses his beautiful mistress to go with him.
(DIALOGUE DIALOGUE)
At this point, no one is aware that THE fox disguised himself as the tandonobu, in order to be close to the drum.
P- (ACT 2 SCENE 2,3,4)
The fist two scenes are set at the tokaya house. Haiki warrior, who is supposed to be dear is disguising himself as a proprietor, and he is waiting for a change to revenge himself form gengi, by killing the general, Yoshitszune.
J- (ACT 3 SCENE 1 AND 2)
The fist two scenes are set at the tokaya house. Haiki warrior, who is supposed to be dear is disguising himself as a proprietor, and he is waiting for a change to revenge himself form gengi, by killing the general, Yoshitszune.
J- (ACT 3 SCENE 1 AND 2)
Wakaba no naishi, the wife of the heikei survivor taira no koremochi, travels with her son and their retainor in search of her husbans.
(SCENE 3) – This scene takes place in a ya sai mon sushi shop.
(DIALOGUE DIALOGUE)
gONTA HAS BEEN BANNED FROM THE HOUSE BY HIS FATHER BUT HE KNOWS THAT HIS MOTHER IS A SOFT TOUCH.
P-To pretend to cry and make his mother feel bad for him, he dabs tea on his face.
She finally gives in and says : “DIALOGUE”
J-Yazaemon returns to the shop with a bundle which turns out to be Kokingo’s decapitated head. “ACTION”
Ashort time later, Koremori’s wife and child arrive at the door looking for a place to spend the ight and Koremori lets them in. “Action”
P-Noristzune is easily captures, but Yoritzune orders his release with one condition”
ACT 5 SCENE 1
J- Tadanobu awaits the arrival or Noritsune in front of Zaodo temple in the Yoshino mountains, under the blossoming cherry trees. “DIALOGUE”
P- Just as Tadanobu is about to make the final thrust to finish Noritzune off, Yoshitsune arrives accompanied by the child- emperor Antoku.
Introduction to KABUKI
For our first lesson on Kabuki, our task was to reduce a Katubi play (Yoshitzune) which is 3 hours long, to a 5 minute summary.
In groups of 6, we had each to take care of a specialty on order to bring the play together:
Mike= Music
Katy= Make up
Daniel= choreographer and actor (Ypshitzune’s wife)
Cheo Wan= choreographer and actress (Yoshitzune’s brother)
Juliana =costume designer and actress (Yoshitzune)
Paula= Narration
Narration
As the narrator, I was in charge of introducing all the scenes and their plot, as typically in Kabuki plays, the scenery changes drastically from the top pf a mountain to a Sushi shop, and because we didn’t use a lot of English vocabulary in the acting and sounds and voice were used to express feelings and emotions (e.g. a grunt and wale when Yoshitzunes wife kills herself), and therefore my narration was essential to keep the audience understanding what was happening.
I worked with the choreographer, to link my narration to the movements he incorporated, as I personally chose not to interfere with my narration some typical aspects of Kabuki, such as the Mie, where the movement to describe a character should be self explanatory.
At first, my narration was very convectional, as I stood a side of the actors and talked about what was happening in each scene, who was entering( as because girls played male parts and vice versa this could confuse the audience understanding), my tone was monotonous and I acted as a secondary actor on stage. After talking to my teacher she explained a concept of Kabuki that I as a narrator could apply as well “Kabuki is all about feeling, and one of the spectacular and most curious aspect of its form of acting is the way the actors are not afraid of exaggerating their emotions along with their movements, to make it more natural and raw, and the narrations were more of a chant”.
I worked with the choreographer, to link my narration to the movements he incorporated, as I personally chose not to interfere with my narration some typical aspects of Kabuki, such as the Mie, where the movement to describe a character should be self explanatory.
At first, my narration was very convectional, as I stood a side of the actors and talked about what was happening in each scene, who was entering( as because girls played male parts and vice versa this could confuse the audience understanding), my tone was monotonous and I acted as a secondary actor on stage. After talking to my teacher she explained a concept of Kabuki that I as a narrator could apply as well “Kabuki is all about feeling, and one of the spectacular and most curious aspect of its form of acting is the way the actors are not afraid of exaggerating their emotions along with their movements, to make it more natural and raw, and the narrations were more of a chant”.
Reflection on my acting and outcome
After this, I decided to adapt my old concept and understanding of narration to a more “Kabuki style” form. I did some research on the background of the play and its origins, and added some of my knowledge at the start, for example when the lights came on, I stood on the middle of “our stage” and bowed like the Japanese style of greeting, to transmit a more original and colloquial feel. I welcomed the audience with my hands in a praying position (also typical) and introduced the play, “Yoshitzune in a Japanese play, first performed in Osaka, after the war, in the year 1740. It is a play about the journey of the famous hero and military Yoshitzune, who along with his wife and son, went in the search of the 3 Tani enemies of war. It is a original Kabuki play, however artistic liberties have been adapted to this performance, thank you and enjoy”.
For then rest of the narration, I tried to exaggerate my movements when speaking, specially in scenes such as when Yoshitzune’s wife is killing herself, using my hands to point at her with surprise and fear of her actions ( choice used to also attract the audiences attention towards her) and to really make the moment climatic. Also, I found out that an effective way to really express feelings and things in a Kabuki play as A NARRATOR was to let the emotions and actions of the actors really affect you, so that you are able to feel like they do and that way impregnate the audience with it. For example, in the scene where they confess that the “Hatzume drum” was made out of the skin of the parents, I remember Juliana (Yoshitzune) held the drum with tenderness and love, and with her facial expressions conveyed a sense of sadness and regret. By her, I let my words come out in a much more lower and saddened tone, making my body smaller and more vulnerable by arching my back and letting my arms flop, to relate to the feeling that Yoshitzsune himself was going through.
I realized that a narrator in general, should be the person that makes the audience realize that what the actors are going through is both real and important, as he/she is the one person that the audience recognizes as “Real” in a way, and so I feel that is he/she is able to show that she is being envolved in the story by FEELING what the actors are, then it will make the audience believe that the story is not only powerful because it managed to penetrate people, but also real in a sense that it is no longer just a show, and that is the power of acting.
Narration on the form of chanting was a more challenging and difficult task for me, as I wasn’t sure where the borderline of chanting and talking was right to use. For this, I tried to PROLONGUE some words in my narration, to give rhythm and importance, for example the word “kill” which I said with much more power and strength from my voice, turning it into a “KKKIILLLLLL”, or when the situation was happy or exciting I talked quicker and with a higher pitch, to go with the mood created, however for next time I need to start including and adopting a more chanting voice when working with Kabuki plays, to find out also for myself what the effect would be, however for sure it I know it will be more interesting!
For then rest of the narration, I tried to exaggerate my movements when speaking, specially in scenes such as when Yoshitzune’s wife is killing herself, using my hands to point at her with surprise and fear of her actions ( choice used to also attract the audiences attention towards her) and to really make the moment climatic. Also, I found out that an effective way to really express feelings and things in a Kabuki play as A NARRATOR was to let the emotions and actions of the actors really affect you, so that you are able to feel like they do and that way impregnate the audience with it. For example, in the scene where they confess that the “Hatzume drum” was made out of the skin of the parents, I remember Juliana (Yoshitzune) held the drum with tenderness and love, and with her facial expressions conveyed a sense of sadness and regret. By her, I let my words come out in a much more lower and saddened tone, making my body smaller and more vulnerable by arching my back and letting my arms flop, to relate to the feeling that Yoshitzsune himself was going through.
I realized that a narrator in general, should be the person that makes the audience realize that what the actors are going through is both real and important, as he/she is the one person that the audience recognizes as “Real” in a way, and so I feel that is he/she is able to show that she is being envolved in the story by FEELING what the actors are, then it will make the audience believe that the story is not only powerful because it managed to penetrate people, but also real in a sense that it is no longer just a show, and that is the power of acting.
Narration on the form of chanting was a more challenging and difficult task for me, as I wasn’t sure where the borderline of chanting and talking was right to use. For this, I tried to PROLONGUE some words in my narration, to give rhythm and importance, for example the word “kill” which I said with much more power and strength from my voice, turning it into a “KKKIILLLLLL”, or when the situation was happy or exciting I talked quicker and with a higher pitch, to go with the mood created, however for next time I need to start including and adopting a more chanting voice when working with Kabuki plays, to find out also for myself what the effect would be, however for sure it I know it will be more interesting!
Evaluation
This task helped me realize how unaware we were about the style and the play making of Kabuki, and so at the end of the lesson, after watching the other groups performance as well all I wanted to do was to learn more and more. I liked how Natalia’s group chose to accentuate more the use of movements, as the way they all walked was more comical to us yet stylized, with big steps and the arms swaying from side to side, letting the body guide the head, as I realized how there are a lot of concepts that could be changed and worked on in order to really produce a good and faithful Kabuki style performance. As a narrator as well, there was a point in the show, when I saw Daniel coming in the scene dressed as a woman, with a tight skirt that enabled him to walk properly and with the Kabuki style make up of the red cheeks and lips that really caused an impact on me, and I burst with laugher, which was difficult for me to control. I think aspects such as this tell me that we have to be a lot more opened minded about drama and its different conventions!!!!
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