"Kabuki Final 2012" Dramaturge evaluation

Through further research

Dramaturge evaluation

As a dramaturge, I loved getting to find out so much about Kabuki, maybe things I would have never been able to know if I was just an actress.
This below, is the “Dramaturge information booklet” I created, and updated each week following requests from the director of inspired by personal curiosity. I liked working with the cast closely, using my knowledge in private lessons with them to explain what I found out and helping them apply them with my acting experiences.

Things I found the most interesting:

v How it was the government, with the intend of trying to clean the publicity image of the art, that improved it by making the costume fabrics better, the blades of the Samurai swords out or real, expensive materials and making the plays subjects less sensual, leading to making Kabuki more authentic, richer in content and more sophisticated. I thought it was very interesting on how politics, economy and sociology had such a great effect in its growth.

Evaluation of resources so far: I made sure that all the web pages I used were reliable by backing up the information with other sources. The videos I used were youtube videos of original performances and the articles I read were wither student articles on the same research or from articles o famous magazines and newspapers.

So, as a dramaturge it was very difficult for me to find information about ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING In the play, as the art f Kabuki takes years to master. So …….Through further research, after our performance, I realized that there were some things that I could have improved more upon. Examples of this are the way the fan is positioned. The use of the fan in Kabuki is an art in itself, as there are different ways of holding it and moving it around that can indicate different things about the physical and mental state of the actress e.g In these 2 video, there is a tutorial on how to work the “Uchiwa”, which is a theatrical fan. They are simple tutorials, but they raised my interest in the fans and if I had more time I would like to research on them further.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/jacult.arts.drama.fan/ = Therefore I researched more and found this official video, from Kabuki master Shozo Sato that talked in more depth about the origins and the vocabulary of the fan and its use. It originated in the 9^th centaury, and a men’s accessory, and it is a fan used by both Kakubi actors and Noh actors. There are different types of fans for different characters, depending on their class and age. In the page, they also have essays and teaching tips on the subject that explain in further detail, and I would use them for next time, to make the piece more authentic.

It was interesting to find out that they weren’t originally used for dancing, but to show of wealth as famous artists would write their calligraphy in them. There are maybe different movements that symbolize different things with the fan, such as the blooming of flowers and their recollection.

http://www.freewebs.com/kabuki_gallery/ = to back up my research, I also used this page to find more pictures and videos on the subject of the “Art of the fan” in Kabuki performances. I believe that the video was a very helpful insight as it gave me clear visual image and understanding of the motion of the movements, and it made me appreciate its flow and beauty more than in pictures. For me personally, in subjects to do with drama, I enjoy more learning visually and auditory.

Another thing I regret not having have done more practice on is on the Kabuki walk for Onnagatta characters. I came up with the idea of  having a had made Tony and Negina, tie their knees together with a string, as a form of practice for walk in a womanly manner, with their knees bent and taking tiny steps, adding to the graceful and weak look. This is a method used by professional Kabuki actors as part of their preparation to really embody the characteristics of a woman, and as we were intending on being as authentic as we could possibly be within our means, this would have been a perfect practice for the actors, as it would have mastered their minds to get used to the difficulty of walking like a professional Kabuki actor, and it would have made them value more the efforts in preparation needed in a life time to master the art. Also, because the male’s interpretation of woman in Kabuki comes from hundreds of years ago and through techniques of observation and mimiquing, it is interesting to see how relationships and sociology changed the way they viewed a ‘proper’ womanly walk, and how practice has made this walk develop through the years, as if you watch videos, the male actors take tiny steps, and sway their hips from side to side in a very coquette manner.

It was through further research that I found out a very interesting facts about the “Harakiri” Cutting of the belly ritualistic ceremony to perform a honorable death in (Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku, http://formypupils.com.sapo.pt/11thGrade/Cultural_Context/Seppuku.html article on the history: http://www.artelino.com/articles/seppuku.asp  , and and extract from a Japanese movie 1962 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfswo9ZClas , and a more modern version of Seppuku (cutting in the stomach) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVE7aqrva0g ), and it was that Samurai’s, as the documents said, when committing suicide, would tie their knees together so that when stabbing themselves, this ‘rope’ or ‘string’ would prevent their knees from spreading due to the pain they suffered, and therefore maintaining their body, although dead, in a honorable, stylist, clean manner. Also, as it would be a public event, this posture and appearance was important as a way of remembering the person as honorable.

 For the male actors that performed male characters, another invention I thought of was putting weights on their feet, to make them make more effort in lifting their walks.

Michael and me walking on the Kabuki walk, could have maybe been improved by my suggestion above of hanging weights from them

Choreographer working with Grace on her Aragato walk

Finally, watching the videos mentioned in other posts, I realized that the way the heads sway are as important as the gestures of a Kabuki actor. This is again, something I would like to find out more about and experiment with the cast with.