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Down the flower path
‘Kabuki in Boston’ comes to the Majestic
BY IRIS FANGER

Kabuki theater is one of the jewels of international performance art, dating back nearly 400 years in Japanese history. Originated by an all-female group of dancers in 17th-century Kyoto, it soon moved to Tokyo, where the women and their erotic performances were considered a danger to public morality. By order of the shogun, the ladies were replaced by young male actors who proved to be no less seductive. These troupes of men performed all the roles in plays by means of singing ("ka"), dancing ("bu"), and acting ("ki"). Thus a tradition was born.

When "Kabuki in Boston," which is being presented by the Japan Society of Boston as part of its 100th anniversary celebration, arrives next weekend for four performances at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, the company of 23 actors will be led by Nakamura Kankuro and his son, Nakamura Shichinosuke, who trace their family back to men who acted on the kabuki stage from the 1730s on. Shichinosuke appeared as the young emperor in the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai. The single program for Boston will consist of excerpts from two separate kabuki plays, Renjishi, or "Dance for Two Lions," and Bo-Shibari, or "Tied to a Pole"; the latter is a kabuki adaptation of a classic kyogen comedy about foolish servants and their exasperated master, a subject worked over by 17th-century playwrights Carlo Goldoni and Molière as well as the ancient Greeks and Romans. The kyogen plays were funny skits performed as interludes between the acts of the upper-class noh drama. Both forms have been wrapped into the kabuki plays.

This run of "Kabuki in Boston" marks the first time that a full troupe of kabuki actors has appeared here — which is strange when you consider Boston’s affinity for Oriental culture and the fact that full companies have appeared several times in New York with great success. There is, of course, the expense of bringing a company here — 55 persons for this tour, including actors, on-stage musicians, and the costume and technical staff — and the cost of preparing the theater. The "hanamichi" or "flower path," a part of the kabuki theater structure since the early 18th century, is an elevated aisle that runs from the rear of the auditorium to the stage; one will be constructed at the Majestic for the actors’ stylized entrances. As Peter Grilli, president of the Japan Society of Boston and the tour’s producer (the company will travel to New York and Washington after Boston), explains, "Without the hanamichi, it’s not kabuki. When you go on that ramp, you’re just a foot from the audience. It gives this closeness and familiarity for the viewer."

Grilli’s father worked as a civilian member of General MacArthur’s staff, so he lived in Japan from the age of five. The family remained, and Grilli, who was educated in an American school (and then Harvard), learned his fluent Japanese "on the streets. My best friends were Japanese kids." He first saw kabuki when he was a sophomore in high school. "It just blew me away. That first night at the kabuki was totally unforgettable. Great theater has that effect on people."

And now? "In Japan over the last 40 to 50 years, kabuki was out of fashion. You’d go to the theater in Tokyo and there’d be only old ladies, and they’d be asleep halfway through the performance. That’s really changed. Now there’s much more interest, partly because kabuki has become popular outside of Japan and there are young actors who have become media stars."

"Kabuki in Boston" is presented at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street in the Theater District, July 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and July 10 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $75; call (800) 233-3123, or visit www.us-japan.org/boston


Issue Date: July 2 - 8, 2004
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