Development of Kabuki
Social Conditions
Civil Warfare - 1338 - 1590
Tokugawa Shogunate - 1603 - 1868
after 1615 - peaceful - no civil warfare
Resulting social changes:
Population shift to urban centers
Agriculture more productive
Increasing population
Commerce developed - merchants & tradesmen
Governmental fear of change
Freeze social structure; regulate movement
Formalize & stabilize social change
Role of Government
Strict feudalism
System of taxation
Control of potential political rivals
Policy of isolation
Control of everyday life
Districts set up
Segregated by trades
License & taxation of guilds, trades, businesses
Clothing to identify the district you belong to
Guild association & restricted district residence
Gay Quarters
Red light district
Licensed prostitution
Passes easily obtainable
Tea houses & Theatres
Law & order very loose
Drunken brawls & murders
Only riots drew in the police
Laws governing actors
Wakiaruki
Licensed
Belong to guild - gekidan
Forbidden to leave gay district
Moved guilds from small towns to the cities
Tokugawa Social Structure
Samurai
Shogun & samurai warrior/administrators
Nomin - Farmers & peasants
Sojin -Artisans
Shomin - Merchants
Below the caste system
Kuge - court nobles & aristocracy
Shaji - religious clergy
Outside the caste system
Semmin or Eta - outcasts - unclean
Okuni Kabuki
First performance - 1596
Kyoto - Kamogawa dry river bed
Kanjin - public performance
Mixture of performance elements
song, dance & recitation
comic & dramatic elements
Okuni
Shinto priestess (Miko)
Her influences
Knew Noh & kyogen actors
Married to wealthy samurai
Studied No acting, poetry & dance
Development of Okuni Kabuki
Okuni recruited miko & other women
Borrowed elements from
Dengaku, Sarugaku
Noh, Kyogen
Popular music & dance
Rapid rise of popularity
1607 invited to perform in Edo (Tokyo)
Many troupes formed
Traveling troupes - professional stature
Recruited women from gay district
Became known as sexually corrupt
Onna Kabuki
Women’s Kabuki
Established 1610
Kabuki Zas were created
Primarily women performers; some men
Kyoto - 4 major zas
Okuni Kabuki
Sadoshima Kabuki
Shinobu Kabuki
Dansuke Kabuki
Government Regulation of Onna Kabuki
1608
Performances only on outskirts of city
1628
Performances shut down due to riots
1629
Women banned from the stage
Women on stage is too licentious
Wakashu Kabuki
Young men’s Kabuki
1617 first all-male troupe
Performers
Young men
Chosen for physical beauty
Female impersonation
Imitate mannerisms & vocal tones of women
Sexually corrupt
Male prostitutes
More Government Intervention
1652
Wakashu Kabuki banned
Young men & boys banned from performing
Too licentious & suggestive
Leads to indecency
Yaro Kabuki
Man’s Kabuki
Adult male performers
Ended overtly sexual aspect of Kabuki
Performers required to shave forelock
Considered sign of male beauty of have full head of hair
Historical Recap
Early forms
Mystical, spiritual, religious, ritual significance
Patronage
Shrines, temples
Daimyos
No was first fully mature theatre form
Tokugawa Period
Rapid social change
Society ripe for a commercial theatre form
Kabuki Development
Purely commercial form
Not high-brow
Appealed to working people
Element of sexual corruption
Developed in response to eager audience
Satirized non-workers:
Warriors, aristocracy, priests & nuns
Appealed the vulgar
Comparison of Noh & Kabuki
Noh
Distilled, understated, confined & restrained
Ensemble form
Emphasis on the play
Requires a highly educated audience
Kabuki
Physical, elaborate, magnified, spectacular, exaggerated
Star theatre - go to see particular performers
Requires nothing of the audience
Developed rapidly
