UCLA Theatre Seminar - Japanese Theatre The Quest For Balance

UCLA Theatre History Seminar

October 19, 2012
Japanese Theatre - The Quest For Balance

I.         Introduction

            Covering 800 years of history in 60 minutes – Mission Impossible

II.        3 Major Nexus Points Important to Theatre

                        A. Gempei Wars 1180-85

                                    1. Fujiwara Vs. Genji Vs. Heike

                                    2. Rise and Dominance of the Samurai

                                    3. Source Material for many of the most popular plays (*Yoshitsune)

                                    4. The Samurai quest for Balance (Bun and Bu) brings No into being

                        B. Tokugawa Shogunate 1603–1868

                                    1. First sustained peace in nearly 400 years

                                    2. Flourishing of Popular Arts (Kabuki & puppets)

                                    3. Struggle between Bakfu and Kabuki

                        C. WWII and the US Army Occupation of Japan 1945—48

                                    1. Kabuki faces its biggest challenge for survival

                                    2. Shochiku uses Kabuki to resist US Occupation

                                    3. Army trained linguists bring Japanese Theatre to America

“Though I am ruler of Japan, there are three things which are beyond my control: the rapids on the Kamo River, the fall of the dice at gambling, and the monks of the mountains!” – Emperor Go-Shirakawa 12^th Century

III.      Noh Theatre

                        A. Kanami and Zeami “invent” Noh out of Sarugaku

                        B. Noh flourishes under patronage of Ashikaga Shoguns 1338—1534
                             Performance before Shogun Yorimitsu in 1374

                        C. Jo – Ha - Kyu

                        D. The goal of Noh is the balance of Hana and Yugen 

Yugen -- lit. ‘Obscure and Dark.’ As used by Zeami it means: “half revealed or suggested beauty, at once elusive and meaningful, tinged with wistful sadness.”

Hana -- To have hana is to have grasped the universal in the individual.  It is to have creative freedom within limitation.  As Zeami noted, "Whatever is suitable to the occasion is real hana." 

“The purpose of all art is to bring sweetness to the hearts of all people and to harmonize high and low” – Zeami, Kadensho

                        E. Noh is refined, elusive, distant.  The stage is so constructed to separate                                                                      

                             actor from audience – 

                            The White Sand Bar emphasizes this separation. 

                                                               

                        F. The Mirror Room where the actor becomes the character. 

                       

IV.      Kyogen

                        A. Comic plays staged between Noh plays on a normal program

                        B. Comparison to Laurel and Hardy or R2D2 and C3PO

                        C. Most scripts 10 pages or less, 3 to 4 characters (Busu)

                        D. Zeami notes:
“Kyogen should kindle the mind to laughter, but neither in speech nor in gesture should there be anything low.  The jokes and repartee however funny they may be, should not introduce the vulgar.”

                        E. Kyogen in Children’s Theatre (Jennifer DeCosta’s Kyogen O’ Hawai’i)

V.        Kabuki and Puppet Theatre

                        A. Kabuki from the verb “kabuku” = at an angle, askew

                             Is Kabuki a Chonin response to theatrical and Tokugawa orthodoxy?

                                    1. Okuni starts kabuki dancing 1596

                                    2. Onna Kabuki 1603 – 1629

                                    3. Wakasu Kabuki 1629 – 1652

                                    4. Yaro Kabuki 1652 –

                                    5. Bakfu forbids ALL amateur theatricals 1697.

                        B. Struggle Between Kabuki and the Bakfu

 1. Laws segregating actors & prostitutes

 2. Actors required to have their hair length measured

 3. Forbidden to depict current events or people

 4. Bakfu wants to keep everything just as it is. 

     They use “morality” as a means of control. 

     Their other major tool is segregation – of the country,

     of classes, of the towns & provinces. 

     Everyone has a place and they must remain there.

            “People are easily influenced by the behavior of actors and prostitutes.  Recently there has been a tendency for even high-ranking people to use the argot of actors and prostitutes.  This habit has become a kind of fashion, and people think that those who do not use such words and phrases are rustics.  I am ashamed that this is so.  Such a tendency will result in the collapse of the social order.  It is therefore necessary to segregate actors and prostitutes from ordinary people.”

“Morality is nothing but the necessary means of controlling the subjects of the

Empire … Morality may be regarded as a device for governing the people”

            Ogyu Sorai (1666 – 1728), advisor to Tokugawa Yoshimune, 8^th Shogun

                        C. Competition between Kabuki and Puppets

                                    1. Ideas move in both directions (Double Suicide Plays)

                                    2. Puppets Not Viewed as Threat to Social Order

                                    3. Joruri is 3^rd Person while Kabuki is 1^st Person

                                        Kabuki is an Actor’s drama, Joruri belongs to the Chanter

                                        Original 1-man puppets have limited movement

                                        They essentially “disappear” when not moving.

                                        To compete with Kabuki, larger 3-man puppets are developed

                                    4. Chikamatsu the Japanese Shakespeare?

                                    5. Puppets Theatre undergoes MAJOR change in 1746-48 moving

                                        away from the style of Chikamatsu to one more like Kabuki. 

                                        3 Great Epics of Takemoto Puppet Theatre:

                                        Sugewara Denju Tenarai Kagami – 1746

                                        Yoshitsune Senbonzakura – 1747

                                        Kanadehon Chushingura – 1748

“From the beginning joruri has modeled itself on kabuki, with even the puppets imitating kabuki actors.  The natural result, now that kabuki is imitating puppet movement, is the decline of kabuki.” – Kabuki Actor Otowa Jirosaburo

           

In the first staging of Chushingura by the puppet theatre, 6 chanters were used in the Ichiriki Brothel/Tea House scene – one chanter for each major character.  This made the scene much more like a kabuki play, more 1^st person drama than 3^rd person narrative.

                        D. The Physical Theatre

                                    1. Hannamichi – Single and Double

                                    2. Traps, Lifts, Revolves
                                        Scenery Lift - 1727, Actor Lift - 1736, Revolving Stage - 1758

                                    3. Draw and Drop Curtains

                                    4. Geza Music

The kabuki stage invites the audience in.  The house is traditionally wider than it is deep so that everyone is close to the stage. (At the old Kabuki-za in Tokyo the stage is 90' wide while the house is 60' deep.)  Likewise the hannamichi is more than simply a runway from the back of the house to the stage – it is an acting space upon which (usually at the 7-3 point, major characters are introduced, and important action takes place, right in the midst of the audience. 

An important action that takes place there is the maku-soto – acting outside the curtain.

Kumagai’s final exit

Kampei and Okaru’s exit at end of michiyuki (with Bannai closing the curtain)

Benkei’s ropo exit at the end of the Daimotsu Ura act, Yoshitsune Senbonzakura

Brandon calls the maku-soto “The single most important solo moment in any play.”

-- Chushingura – Studies in Kabuki, p133

                       

                        E. Kabuki Play Formats, Acting Styles and Major Themes

                                    1. Play Types

                                        Jidaimono – History Plays

                                        Sewamono – Domestic Tragedy

                                        Shoshigoto – Dance Play

                                    2. Acting Styles

                                        Aragoto – Rough House, Edo

                                        Wagoto – Soft Style, Osaka

                                        Onnagata – Female Roles

The goal of the onnagata is not to imitate or impersonate a woman, but rather it is to capture the very essence of femininity.  This is why, even today, geisha closely observe the onnagata at the Minami-za theatre for tips and examples of how to behave, move, and speak. 

                                    3. The Major Theme of Japanese Theatre – Balance

                                         Bun and Bu – the Civic and the Military Virtues (Arts)

                                         Giri and Ninjo   Duty vs. the yearnings of the Heart

                                         Life and Death  The Beauty of Each

                                         *Yoshitsune epitomizes this Balance.

                                    4. Juhachiban – The 18 Favorite Plays of the Ichikawa Family

                                    http://www.naritaya.jp/english/compendium/18_index.html

                                    http://www.artelino.com/articles/kabuki-juhachiban.asp
  

                                    5. Misc. Notes on Kabuki

                         

In Japanese theatre the pauses, the silence, the stillness, are just as important (perhaps even more so) than the moments of action.

The Noh and Kabuki actor use “stillness” as expressively as a Western actor uses movement.  (Consider Steve McQueen’s performance in the film The Magnificent Seven – he is always moving, always doing ‘business’ never still.)

When Okuni staged her dances in the dry bed of the Kamo river, actors were often called kawara-kojiki (river bank beggars).

The audience sat on the grass and perhaps this is why the Japanese word for play, shibai, is written with the Chinese character (kanji) meaning turf and to sit.

Videos:

Daimostu Ura no Ba from Yoshitsune Senbonzakura

            Entire Act: 30 minutes

            Maku Soto (out of curtain exit) 5 minutes

Michiyuki from Yoshitsune Senbonzakura

            Entire Act 25 minutes

            Tadanobu’s entrance and dance 5 minutes

Yoshitsune, hero of stage, screen and the video game console

At the Battle of Yashima, during the Gempei War 1180-85, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, leader of the Genji Army, dropped his bow in the water. Despite heavy enemy fire and the frantic urgings of his own troops, Yoshitsune continued looking for his bow and returned to the safety of his own lines only after he had recovered it.

His own officers and veteran warriors were angry with the young general and told him so.

"That was a terrible thing to do sir. Your bow may be worth a thousand, even tens of thousands of gold, but how could it be worth risking your life?"

"It isn't that I didn't want to lose the bow itself," Yoshitsune replied. "If my bow were like my uncle Tametomo's and required two or three men for the stinging, I even might have deliberately dropped it for the enemy to take. But mine is weak and feeble. If the enemy had taken it, he would have jeered at me, saying 'See, this is Minamoto no Yoshitsune's bow!' I wouldn't have liked that. That's why I risked my life to get it back."

Yoshitsune epitomizes this ideal of Balance so admired by the Japanese, combining the refined grace of the Heike with the robust spirit of the Genji.  He is the quintessential tragic hero in Japanese literature and theatre.

Sources / Further Reading

The Gempei Wars

The Samurai – A Military History by S.R. Turnbull, ©1977 

See in particular pp. 13 – 83 for the Hekei-Genji struggle

And pp. 266-90 for the Decline of the Samurai during the Edo period

The Nobility of Failure by Ivan Morris, ©1975  

See in particular pp.67-105 Chap 5 Yoshitsune Victory Through Defeat

Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato, ©1995

See the Introduction for an excellent essay on the origins of the samurai

Also pp.110-56 for Yoshitsune and pp.304-38 for the 47 Ronin

The Tale of the Heike Vols. I and II translated by H Kitagawa & B Tsuchida ©1975

The Kabuki Handbook by Aubrey and Giovanna Halford ©1956

See in particular pp. 418-25 for a synopsis of the Heike--Genji Cycle

Noh and Kyogen

The Noh Drama translated by the Special Noh Committee, Japanese Classics © 1955

See in particular the Introduction pp.9-16

20 Plays of the No Theatre edited by Donald Keene, ©1970

See in particular pp.1-15 Conventions of the No Drama

Ze-ami’s Kadensho translated by Sakurai, Hayashi, Satoi & Miyai, ©1968

The man who started it all writes on No and the search for artistic truth.

A Guide To Kyogen by Don Kenny, ©1968

See in particular pp.7-14

Three Modern Kyogen by Donald Richie, ©1972

The Introduction is excellent and the plays themselves very funny.

Japanese Folk Plays translated by Shio Sakanishi, ©1960

See in particular the Introduction pp.1-22. 

This slim volume contains many of the most popular Kyogen and a few obscure plays as well, like The Magic Mallet Of The Devil.

Kabuki and Puppet Theatre

The Kabuki Theatre by Earl Ernst, ©1956 & 1974

This remains the very best detailed study of Kabuki covering history, theory and production written by one the officers who was part of the US Army Occupation Forces.

If you have a serious interest in the Kabuki Theatre this book is a Must Have.

The Kabuki Handbook by Aubrey and Giovanna M Halford, ©1956

Contains synopses of the most popular plays as well as explanatory notes on acting styles, make-up, costumes, music, play cycles, etc.  An indispensable book.

Kabuki Encyclopedia (Kabuki Jiten) translated and adapted by Samuel Leiter ©1979

An excellent one-volume reference book on all things kabuki.

The Art Of Kabuki Famous Plays In Performance by Samuel Leiter, ©1979

Translations of the kabuki scripts for Benten Kozo, Sugawara’s Secrets Of Calligraphy, Shunkan, and Naozamurai.

The Actor’s Analects translated by Charles J Dunn and Bunzo Torigoe, ©1969

A fascinating collection of notes and advice on the kabuki theatre made by kabuki actors.

Kabuki – Five Classic Plays by James R Brandon ©1975

Excellent translations each with extensive notes on staging, costumes, etc.  Includes the plays Sukeroku, Narukami, Ichinotani (with Kumagai’s Battle Camp), Sakura Hime and the wagoto masterpiece Love Letters From The Licensed Quarter.

Studies in Kabuki by James R Brandon, William P Malm, Donald H Shively, ©1978

Essays on Kabuki Vs. the Tokugawa Bakfu (Shively), Kabuki Music (Malm) and Kabuki acting techniques, styles and kata (Brandon).

Chushingura Studies in Kabuki and the Puppet Theatre by James R Brandon, ©1982

Contains a new translation of the kabuki version of this famous play along with excellent essays on Chushingura (Keene), Forbidden Plays (Shively), Jouri Music (Malm) and the differences in the puppet and kabuki versions of Chushingura.

Sukeroku’s Double Identity: The Dramatic Structure of Edo Kabuki by Barbara E Thornbury, ©1982

Excellent study of Edo Kabuki and the Soga Brothers tradition in both Noh and Kabuki.

The Traditional Theatre of Japan by Yoshinobu Inoura & Toshio Kawatake, ©1981

Good General Text covering No, Kabuki and the Puppet Theatres

Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu translated by Donald Keene, ©1961

Excellent Introduction on Chikamatsu and the puppet theatre pp.10-38

The Puppet Theatre of Japan: Honor, Vengeance, and Love

translated by Stanleigh Jones, ©2012

4 Classics of the Puppet stage newly translated into English

Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees translated by Stanleigh Jones ©1993

Translation of the Joruri text along with extensive stage notes, background information and bibliography

Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy translated by Stanleigh Jones, ©1985

“His translation is of excellent quality, as he attempts to offer not only the strict English version of the story but also to mimic poetic devices so often lost in most translations.”

The Voices and Hands of Bunraku by Barbara Adachi, ©1978

This is a good general text with excellent photos of the puppets and their puppeteers.

An Interpretive Guide to Bunraku edited by Patricia Pringle, ©1992

In depth essays on every aspect of the puppet classic The Love Suicides At Sonezaki

This was a special publication for the 1992 Bunraku Artist-in-Residence program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.  Contact the Dept. of Drama and Dance directly to see if any copies are available.

Kabuki and the West

Kabuki’s Forgotten War 1931 – 1945 by James R Brandon, ©2009

Fascinating study of how Kabuki adapted and survived World War Two and how Shochiku used Kabuki to resist the US Occupation

Theatre East and West–Perspectives Toward a Total Theatre by Leonard Pronko, ©1967

Pronko’s ideas for using Asian Theatre to infuse new life into the theatre of the West.

The Challenge Of Kabuki by Mitsuko Unno, translated by Ann Cary ©1979

A detailed study of the kabuki productions staged by the foreign students at the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan.

Dreamers, Dilettantes and Documenters by Leonard Pronko, ©2010

An essay by Dr. Pronko on the use of kabuki in Western Theatre, “Super Kabuki” in Japan and the concept of “Kabuki imaginaire.”

On-Line Resources

Theatre Nohgaku Blog     
http://theatrenohgaku.wordpress.com/about/
A blog dedicated to Noh Theatre with excellent photos and commentary

For example - their report on the No play Aoinoue
http://theatrenohgaku.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/hyakuman-and-aoinoue/

Bunraku Bay is a US based troupe performing with traditional Japanese puppets.
http://bunraku.us/index.html
Using the word "Bunraku" in their name has a nice ring to it, but it is a bit of a misnomer as Bunraku is the name of a specific troupe in Japan.  However ... Bunraku Bay is doing some very interesting work name notwithstanding.

Kabuki21                        http://kabuki21.com/

This is, by far, the most accessible and comprehensive web site for all things kabuki.  In addition to current news and performance schedules, there are synopses of plays, actor bio’s and an exhaustive list of links to other useful web sites.  This should be your first stop in researching topics in kabuki.

The 47 Ronin are the most revered samurai in all of Japanese history.  Their story has been told not only in the Puppet and Kabuki theatres but over 100 times on film and television.  There have been turned into toy soldiers for collectors, a board game for adults, and I dare say someone somewhere is even now working on a video game version.  Indeed, Universal Studios is currently producing a new version of the 47 Ronin, for the first time in 3D and staring Keanu Reeves. 

Not surprisingly, there are numerous web sites devoted to this band of loyal retainers.  Here is a list of the more useful or interesting ones:

http://www.47ronins.com/

http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/hds2_chushingura.html

http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=47_Ronin

http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/chushinguranew/CHUSHINGURA.htm

http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/chushinguranew/chushingura/FILMS/Index.htm

http://www.kuniyoshiproject.com/Main%20-%20Chushingura.htm

On-Line Video

There are quite a few kabuki videos on YouTube.  Most are fragments or short sections of plays while a few videos contain the entire act.  There are also several documentaries from the NHK or National Geographic that provide a good 'general' introduction to Japanese Theatre.  

Below are links to a few of the kabuki videos on YouTube.  No doubt the diligent will find many more.

Noh and Kyogen

Atsumori Otoko-mai Atsumori's dance as performed by the Nogaku Theatre, a US based Noh troupe. (5 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgsALoKic9s

Busu - a short section of the Kyogen performed in Japan (4 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaBT0fedCME&feature=channel&list=UL

Puppet Theatre

Short Introduction to Puppet Theatre (10 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TKt67ouaqM


Kabuki Theatre

Dai Motsu Ura act from Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune And The Thousand Cherry Trees)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txaxum007X4    (31 minutes)

Michiyuki (Travel Dance) from Yoshisune Senbon Zakura (40 minutes)

Part I     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jDqenOT-b8

Part II   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVU_GckQZ-o&feature=relmfu

Musume Dojoji starring Bando Tamasaburo (each part is 12 - 14 minutes in length)

Part I     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axcbh92iC6U&feature=relmfu

Part II    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31yI8y1IVP8&feature=relmfu

Part III   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHnymgCWpWs&feature=relmfu

Part IV  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmNMuNVRmVs&feature=relmfu

Part V   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Zi6IRaKh0&feature=relmfu

Short Introduction to Kabuki (10 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3IHdm2Tf8g&feature=related

Kanjincho - The Subscription List (adapted from the No Theatre. In Multiple parts with English narration.)     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqdC4x-Vns&feature=related

Part II     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2XjWx61-C8&feature=relmfu

Part III    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPg5XWIexMk&feature=relmfu

Additional parts are listed on the YouTube site.

Renjishi - Two Lions a Kabuki Dance Drama (Shoshigoto)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7UdYl3BG4Y&feature=related

In 1978 the University of Hawaii undertook a year-long program of intensive kabuki study culminating in the production of Chushingura.  The play ran for three weeks in Honolulu, then toured the neighbor islands before embarking on a six week mainland tour beginning in LA and ending in Boston.

Here are a few videos from that production

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0y-TEZrFQ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2WnL1d6PKY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uRLnQ8Yp3Y

A final thought ...

The Zen of Noh.

Zeami divided hana into nine grades or levels. He described the top three grades as:

3rd Grade: "The whiteness and purity of snow lying on a silver garden"
2nd Grade: "Among snow-covered mountains one peak has ceased to be white."
1st Grade: "The light of the sun at midnight."

This is the state of mind beyond thought and language.  It is mind without mind ... The human is no longer human and art is no longer art.   -- from the introduction to Zeami's Kasenso.

The Essence of Kabuki Endures

Not a day passes, or so it seems, that the news is not reporting on some new instance of  ‘kabuki theatre.’  Of course they are talking about politics, particularly as staged in Washington D.C.  The fact that these little dramas more resemble Roman Farce or even Greek Tragedy, than Japanese Kabuki, seems to be lost on both reporters and readers alike.  Indeed, when the James Earl Jones character in the Francis Ford Coppola film, Garden Of Stones, described the US Army’s Old Guard as “… the Army’s Kabuki Theatre on the Potomac” he was much closer to the truth of it.

Started around the year 1603 in a dry Kyoto river bed by the itinerant dancer Okuni, Kabuki has grown, adapted, changed, and generally rolled with the times, surviving the Tokugawa Shoguns, the popularity of the puppet theatre, the opening of Japan to the West, World War II, TV and video games.

UH 1981 Production of Kanjincho - The Subscription List

Unlike most classical theatre, Kabuki has enjoyed a continuous and consistent performance tradition that has endured into the 21^st century and shows no signs of diminishing. 

The very best book about Kabuki is Earl Ernst’s seminal work, The Kabuki Theatre.  Written in 1956 it remains unsurpassed in its scope, depth and understanding of this most sophisticated art form.  Indeed, those who are interested in Kabuki will not only have this book on their shelf, but will have actually read it, often more than once.

David Furumoto as Benkei

In 1974, when the University of Hawai’i undertook to republish the book Ernst, who was a professor at the UH, was asked to write a new introduction.  He was challenged that, certainly in the 20 years since the book’s first release, things had changed.  Yes, Ernst agreed, many things in Japan had changed, and even Kabuki, which always rode the waves of time and fashion, had made certain accommodations, the biggest of which was the institution and support of a new actor-training program at the National Theatre.

And yet …

Even with a beautiful new theatre built by the government, weekly-televised performances of classic plays, and new blood from outside the traditional Kabuki families, the essence of Kabuki had not changed. 

I quote Ernst in full:

“In October 1972 one could step out of the din and pollution of Tokyo into the Kabuki-za to see Kichiemon’s grandson play Togashi in The Subscription List, a role in which his grandfather excelled.  He’s not yet as good as his grandfather was, but he will be. [And he was.] The set was precisely the same as it’s always been and so was the music.  The audience was perhaps a little more restrained then the one grandfather played to, but they came and went at will, they ate, and some seemed to have little notion of what was going on theatrically, though whatever it was, it was estimable, and there were those, perhaps a majority, who shed tears when Yoshitsune forgives Benkei for having struck him.  As long as audiences weep at that moment of the play, a moment so purely Japanese that it is emotionally inaccessible to most foreigners, traditional Japanese sensibility will be alive and the Kabuki will nourish it.” -- The Kabuki Theatre 1973 Preface.

Russell Omori as Togashi

If Dr. Ernst were asked to write a new introduction for a 21^st century edition, I doubt he would change much, if anything, from this intro, except, perhaps, for the idea that the emotions raised by the scene of Yoshitsune forgiving Benkei are ‘inaccessible to most foreigners.”  In our post-modern global society I think there are many non-Japanese who would also weep at that scene.  Yes, the moment is uniquely Japanese, and yet not so inaccessible as it once was, and that’s a good thing.

Penny Bergman as General Yoshitsune disguised as a porter

Koken or Stage Assistant in the 1981 UH production of Kanjincho

December 7th - The Serendipity of 70 Years

Reflections On Kabuki, Faubion Bowers and Serendipity

Serendipity is a wondrous thing, putting us, as if by random chance, in the right place at the right time, even though it may not be entirely obvious to us until much later. 

Today marks the 70^th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an act that widened the Great Pacific War.  It was a merciless war that continued for nearly four years and only ended with the occupation of Japan by the United States.  This event (and the ripples it caused) continues to reverberate today and has occasioned much chatter on the Social Media pages of the Internet.  Some have remarked that although we remember these events, there is little or no animosity among the descendants of the combatants.  It would seem that “time heals all wounds” but in fact, that healing was already in full swing in 1945.

It just so happens that today I was in a used bookstore, looking for potential Christmas gifts, when I came upon an old program from the 1960 Grand Kabuki tour of the US.  The program contains several classic photos of the stars making the tour as well as essays by several noted kabuki scholars.  There is one by famed author Yukio Mishima on the actor’s craft, another by the noted translator and scholar, Donald Keene, about the history of kabuki, and finally a longer piece by Colonel Faubion Bowers, about the struggle to return kabuki to the stage in post war Japan.

Colonel Bowers (R) with General MacArthur

Bowers, known in Japan as “the man who saved kabuki” was a graduate of Columbia and Julliard, and had taught at Hosei University in Tokyo before the war.  In 1945 he returned as General MacArthur’s aide and translator.  It was a heady time for the American members of the Occupation, many of whom had never been overseas let alone to so seemingly strange a place as Japan.  As Bowers puts it, “We were flush with our victory, overenthusiastic, ignorant and arrogant – a bad conjunction of qualities.”

In their zeal to “reform” Japan into a modern democracy, the Military Censors “persuaded” the Shochiku Company (who controlled Kabuki) to remove Kabuki from all theatres.  It was felt that Kabuki extolled feudal values (like seppuku, bushido, and the subordination of women) that were incompatible with a modern and democratic Japan.

Not surprisingly Colonel Bowers, who had been quite impressed by the Kabuki performances he has seen before the war, was dismayed by this turn of events.  However, it was his encounter with a young actor that set him on the road to returning Kabuki to the stage.  Bowers is a wonderful storyteller, so I will let him speak for himself:

Because I had been an admirer of Kabuki from before the War, the newspapers, shortly after issuing the extraordinary announcement that Kabuki was ended, approached me.  In a long interview, I regretted the ‘decision’ of Shochiku, and pointed out, I thought and think rightly, that the depiction of feudalism has, in effect, an anti-feudal effect.  After this interview, I tried to enlist the attention of MacArthur in the matter.  He had no feeling about Kabuki, and couldn’t find ‘its head or its tail.’

The press reported my opinions widely, and mistakenly continued to make Shochiku the villain in the piece.  I remember clearly, one day not long after, sitting in my office.  A Japanese, accompanied by a guard and carrying a slip of paper on which I was to write his time of arrival and hour of departure, entered my room.  The paper said ‘Mister Onoe,’ a name not uncommon in Japan.  To my astonishment when he introduced himself it was Shoroku II.  Already in 1945 Shoroku was a most promising young actor and dancer.  Son of the great Koshiro VII and adopted son of the even greater Kikugoro VI, Shoroku was destined for every advantage that the intricate hierarchy of Kabuki affords, yet there I was in full uniform, while Shoroku looked as run down as his compatriots of those postwar years.  Even the luxurious, extravagant Kabuki actors were poor then.  Theatres had been closed because of air raids and many of them had been bombed.  Most actors had lost their homes, their belongings, and their clothes were crinkly with ‘staple fiber’ or ersatz cloth.

Shoroku as the hero in the play Sukeroku Flower of Edo

“I have come on behalf of the Kabuki actors because of the article in the newspaper.  Did you really say it?” he asked, looking brave, but as he told me later, feeling frightened.  I was the first soldier he had ever talked to and one of the few foreigners he had ever seen.  Certainly this was the first time he had ever entered an Occupation building where guards were posted, bayonets gleamed, and presumably secret documents fluttered in the air.  He went on to explain that the ban on Kabuki meant the end of an art, the finish of a livelihood for hundreds of actors and technicians, and a devastating blow to a country prostrate by war but culturally still alive.

“I am not speaking for myself,” he said.  “I am young, I can learn modern theatre, make movies, and if I have no talent in those directions, I can always work at other things.  But what about my parents?  There is nothing they can do now.”

In retrospect, it seems to me that it was then I decided to become a censor of the theatre myself.

Through a variety of machinations, easily accomplished in those rank conscious days, I became the censor of Japanese theatre, and my self-imposed task was to release the classics as quickly as possible without openly embarrassing the Occupation.  My uppermost thought was that if the Occupation left Japan with Kabuki still forbidden, it would be a mark against us, and later, of course, it would be resumed as soon as they were free of us.  But what would have become of the greatness of the old artists and the essential continuity in the training of the younger ones and the atmosphere and traditions that would one-day mould the children of the acting families?  

– Colonel Faubion Bowers in the 1960 Grand Kabuki US Tour Program

As a direct result of Colonel Bowers’ cultural sensitivity, historical perspective and, perhaps most importantly, his sense of justice, it was possible in 1978 for the University of Hawai'i to undertake a year long program of intensive study and training that would culminate in the staging of the Kabuki classic Kanadehon Chushingura – The 47 Ronin.  Under the tutelage of Nakamura Matagoro II (Chief Instructor at the National Theatre) and a cadre of Kabuki actors, musicians, and technicians, we immersed ourselves body and soul into the world of Kabuki.

Many of us had come from great distances to be a part of this program.  Indeed, my theatre professor at the Claremont Graduate School, Dr. Leonard Pronko, told the students in his Japanese Theatre seminar that if any of us were serious about learning this art form then we should head to Hawai'i for we would never have the opportunity, even in Japan, of working as closely with the Kabuki talent being assembled for this production.  I got on the airplane to Hawai'i and never looked back.

Class in Gidaiyu chanting

Our mornings were devoted to dance and acting classes and our afternoons were spent in academic classes on Kabuki history, costuming and music.  In the evenings many of us took additional dance and music lessons and, once the play was cast, we spent every evening, from 3:00pm until 9 or 10 pm in rehearsals.  By the time we opened our Honolulu run in May, we had learned the entire play in Japanese and then re-memorized it in English.  We ate, slept and breathed Kabuki.  It was, for me at least, the best year of my theatrical life.

Some of the older Kabuki actors, those who had been the promising young stars when Colonel Bowers was shepherding Kabuki’s return to the stage, were less than sanguine about Matagoro spending so much of his time and energy teaching Kabuki to gaijin.  However, they were a small minority.  Many more of the leading actors were very supportive of our work and Matagoro had no doubts about the efficacy of what he was doing. 

Although there were many talented actors among us, there were also some, myself included, who, though we loved Kabuki and worked at it diligently, had only a modest talent for it.  Even so this did not seem to bother Matagoro sensei in the least.  He was unfailingly generous with both his time and his talent.

Nakamura Matagoro II (seated) during rehearsals at Kennedy Theatre 

As I now look back on those days, I think that Matagoro saw his work as repaying in kind the good work done by Faubion Bowers back in 1945.  Even more, Matagoro was “paying it forward,” so to speak, insuring, in some small way, that when serendipity strikes once again, that one of us might prove to be the next Faubion Bowers, in the right place at the right time, with the passion to help Kabuki through its next crisis.

I can only hope that at least one of our group has both the wisdom and the courage to repay that debt when fate demands it, and so honor both Matagoro sensei and Colonel Bowers.

The Limits Of Vision

The Case Against Darth Vader As Luke’s Father

When Star Wars burst upon the public that summer of 1977 no one was quite sure what had hit them, but from the opening sequence of the Imperial Star Destroyer pursuing the Rebel Blockade Runner everyone knew Lucas had finally gotten it right – space was big, really BIG. It was also just as clear that audiences wanted more, and it was obvious they would get more as the villain, Darth Vader, spun off into space alive to fight another day. However, all was not what it seemed.

It turned out that Vader was not the villain we believed him to be and in the years between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back much had changed in that Galaxy Far Far Away…

Following the old Hollywood adage of “Bigger is Better” The Empire Strikes Back was exactly that: giant walking tanks, vast panoramic vistas, more complex space battles and a plot twist that threw everyone for a loop. No longer was Luke Skywalker on a journey of discovery, a quest to avenge his father. Instead he now faced the prospect of having to kill his own father in order to save his friends and free the galaxy.

This was the plot twist to end all plot twists and nothing else Lucas did in the original films matched this for shear audacity. Darth Vader had not killed Luke’s father – Darth Vader was Luke’s father.

Many fans were not happy with this new development and they still aren’t. They pointed out all of the problems this created for the story’s internal logic and Lucas went to great lengths to bend the story to fit this new development.

Luke: Obi-Wan! Why didn’t you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.

Ben: Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I have told you was true…from a certain point of view.

Luke: A certain point of view!

Ben: Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view.

Compare this tortured logic to the clean and straightforward prose of the first film:

Luke: How did my father die?

Ben: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.

Clearly, Vader and Anakin are not the same person, despite all of the ipso facto arguments to the contrary from Lucas himself. Of course it is his story to tell and he may tell it in any way he chooses. That he changed his mind more than once during both the writing of the screenplay and the actual filming is well documented.

In an early draft of the first film the main character is a Jedi-bandu Knight named Mace Windy, and during the filming in England Lucas decided that Obi-Wan should “die” on the Death Star rather than escape with the other rebels. (And, as we now learn, that idea was first suggested to Lucas by his then wife, film editor Marcia Lucas.) Such changes are quite common on a film shoot – it is part of the creative process. And yet, by making Vader the father of Luke, I believe Lucas has limited both his vision and his story options. Furthermore, by doing so he has taken the easy path to resolving his story.

Revenge Is Not the Jedi Way 

After finishing The Empire Strikes Back Lucas began work on the final film of his Star Wars trilogy entitled The Revenge Of The Jedi. This was not simply a working title, as films often use, but in fact the final release title. This is evidenced by the fact that 20^th Century Fox went to great lengths to persuade Paramount to change the title of their up coming film, to be released the same summer as Jedi, from Star Trek II The Revenge Of Kahn to The Wrath of Kahn. Paramount obliged Fox only to have Lucas change the title of his film from Revenge Of The Jedi to Return of The Jedi. It had been pointed out to Lucas that revenge was not the Jedi way.

This name change actually better suited Lucas’ revised story line for Luke was not seeking revenge for his murdered father but rather redemption for his father who had fallen from the true faith.

The idea of a son seeking revenge for the murder of his father is as old as story telling itself. The most famous example, but certainly not the only one, is Hamlet by William Shakespeare. But where as Hamlet must decide if the king is truly guilty of his father’s death, as the ghost of his father has informed him, Luke has no such dilemma. Luke knows he must kill Vader in order to free the galaxy from the imperial tyranny his father has made possible. Luke’s dilemma is quite simple: Is he strong enough to kill his own father? Lucas though turns that convention on its head.

Hamlet is tortured by the fear that the ghost has misled him and the king is in fact not guilty. Luke is tortured by the thought of having to kill his own father in order to fulfill his destiny. As we all know Luke opts to not kill his father and instead trusts that his friends will save the day by destroying the Death Star and the Emperor along with it.

But is Luke’s dilemma as monumental and tragic as Lucas makes it out to be? Is it in fact easier not to kill your father than to kill him? Did Lucas give his alter ego Luke Skywalker the easier path? 

I believe Lucas missed an opportunity to tell a far richer story, one that more fully reveals the essence of the Jedi. Had Lucas but remained true to his original idea, that Darth Vader was not Luke’s father but indeed than man who killed him, what then would Luke’s dilemma have been?

The Discipline of the Jedi

To not kill one’s own father despite his crimes is no great struggle. The children of the Nazi leaders still loved their fathers even as they abhorred and repudiated the crimes they had committed. Indeed it would have been more significant had Luke actually killed his father because of his crimes, Luke’s sense of justice overriding his love of and longing for a father to be proud of.

Of course that is not what happens – Luke spares his father, offering himself as a sacrifice to the Emperor and in so doing shows his father the path to redemption.

However…

Let us suppose for a moment that Darth Vader was not Anakin but rather, as originally envisioned, his betrayer and murderer.

Imagine now Luke’s dilemma as he hovers over a prostrate and defeated Vader in the throne room of the Death Star. With one stroke of his light saber Luke can avenge his father and free the galaxy. With one simple strike…and yet Luke choose not to strike.

To not kill the murderer of your father when you have both the means and the rights to do so — now that takes discipline.

A classic theme in literature is that of the child seeking to avenge the untimely and unjust death of their parent.

But in telling the story this way, where Luke at last, after three films, has Vader at his mercy yet shows him mercy, is that not more poignant? He does not exact a pound of flesh, does not avenge his father with blood but instead honors his father by adhering to the highest values and discipline of the Jedi order. Thus does Luke not only “out Jedi” Darth Vader, but also his father and Ben as well. And in that moment Vader has a flash of realization,  a true moment of Zen satori. Now he sees clearly a path to redemption for himself, by siding with the son of the man he betrayed and against the Emperor who seduced him.

Thus do we see the limits of vision, a vision that, in the first film, was seemingly limitless but by the end of the second film was constrained to follow a path that ultimately proved to be less satisfying and less fulfilling.    What might have been… what might have been…

Crimes Against Art or the Creative Process

Many have accused George Lucas of committing artistic crimes (or is that Crimes Against Art?).   Jar Jar Binks is the most often cited example, but there are others: the poorly written and delivered romantic dialog between Anakin and Amidala, or envisioning Anakin so young when the story begins. (An older Anakin would have allowed for a wider range of actors to play the part and puberty could have been used as the point beyond which the Jedi believe a Padawan is too old to begin training.) Or the almost comical exclamation of pain by Darth Vader when he learns of Amidala’s death.

With the exception of Jar Jar Binks these moments and concepts are indeed all clunkers, but minor ones in light of the real crime. If George Lucas is guilty of any crime it is of not having enough confidence in himself and his original vision for Darth Vader and Star Wars.

In his original vision Anakin (or as he called him then, Annikin) and Obi wan Kenobi are forced into exile, hiding from the elite forces of Darth Vader who are hunting down any surviving Jedi. It is while Anakin is in hiding that Luke is born and that explains Ben’s comment: “I haven’t gone by the name Obi wan since oh, before you were born.”

By making Darth Vader the father of Luke and Leia rather than the murderer of Luke’s father, Lucas broke with himself and in so doing limited the scope of his vision. This one change became the wellspring from which all of the problems we perceive in the Saga issue forth.

Now we say “crimes” but of course what we are really talking about is the creative process and the choices every writer faces as they stare at the blank page before them. Looking at the early drafts of Star Wars and the voluminous background notes it is clear to see that from the very start Lucas had a grand vision and he succeeded in incorporating many of those earlier ideas and characters in his six film saga. No doubt Lucas feels that his vision was widened after the success of Star Wars in 1977, and that the changes he made to his original concept have only served to enhance the story he is telling.

Then again…

The original vision of Darth Vader, of Annikin, of Luke and Leia, that vision leads down a far richer path that can only be tread in our mind’s eye. Perhaps in twenty years or so another hot young director will come along and pull a “JJ Abrams” on Star Wars. As Abrams did to Star Trek (using time travel to create an alternate reality for the original crew and thus allowing that franchise to push the “re-set button” and begin again) so a plot device might be found to re-set Star Wars on a different path, a path where Darth Vader does kill Annikin Skywalker, and where Luke must decide between avenging his father by killing Vader or remaining true to the ideals of the Jedi Order and sparing Vader.

Who knows, perhaps that hot young director will be the son of George Lucas himself, come to redeem his father’s original vision. Now that would be life imitating art and poetic justice to boot.

Sources Consulted

The Art Of Star Wars – Edited by Carol Titelman, Story & Screenplay by George Lucas c1979

The Empire Strikes Back Notebook – edited by Diana Attias & Lindsay Smith, Story by George Lucas, Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Leigh Brackett. c1980

The Making Of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler c2007

The Force Behind Star Wars by Paul Scanlon, Rollingstone Magazine, May 25, 1977

The Cult Of Darth Vader by Gavin Edwards, Rollingstone Magazine, May 19, 2005

Screen Chatter: Forget whales, let’s save George Lucas by Brenden West, The Evening Sun May 25, 2008

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, as found in The Portable Shakespeare by Viking Press c1944

Cleopatra - The Obsession With Beauty

Antony And Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy c2010

Of all the women of ancient history, Cleopatra is the best known. Who has not heard of the Queen of the Nile?

Most people “know” she was, perhaps with the exception of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, but was she? Putting aside the vagaries of just what constitutes beauty, what did this most famous of queens look like?

It is difficult to depict charm, or intelligence, or quickness of wit in sculpture, and Temple paintings are so highly stylized as to be useless as a guide to physical appearance.

The historian Plutarch tells us:

In itself her beauty was not absolutely without parallel, not the kind to

astonish those who saw her; but her presence exerted an inevitable

fascination, and her physical attraction, combined with the persuasive

charm of her conversation and the aura she somehow projected around

herself in company, did have a certain ability to stimulate others.

Writing one hundred years later, the historian Dio comments that Cleopatra “was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a most charming voice and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone.”

Is it any wonder then that the brightest stars in the Hollywood firmament have sought to play this fabled queen who combined both brains and beauty in a most powerful combination. Vivien Leigh, Claudette Colbert, Elizabeth Taylor, and Kim Cattrall are but a few who have assayed the role, and even now a new film is being readied for Angelina Jolie to star in as Cleopatra.

No doubt Cleopatra would be flattered to have such beauties portray her on stage and screen.

However…

Allow me to quote at length from the new book, Antony And Cleopatra by Goldsworthy:

“Absolutely nothing is certain. Cleopatra may have had black, brown, blonde or even red hair, and her eyes could have been brown, grey, green or blue. Almost any combination of these is possible. Similarly, she may have been very light skinned or had a darker more Mediterranean complexion. Fairer skin is probably marginally more likely given her ancestry. Greek art traditionally represented women and goddesses as very pale, and fair skin seems to have been part of the ideal of beauty. Roman propaganda never suggested that Cleopatra was dark-skinned, although this may simply mean that she was not exceptionally dark or simply that the color of her skin was not important to her critics.

At no point will we need to consider Antony’s appearance at similar length and this should remind us that the obsession with Cleopatra’s looks is unusual, and not entirely healthy. Not only is there no good evidence, but also there is something disturbing about the desire to base our understanding of her first and foremost on her appearance. Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. She was no mere object of desire, but a very active political player in her own kingdom and beyond.

Cleopatra was born and raised in the real and very dangerous world of the Ptolemaic court in the first century BC. When her father died in 51 BC, she became queen. Auletes had planned for his son and daughter to rule jointly. Cleopatra had other ideas.”

-from Antony And Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy, c2010 pp.128-129

Goldsworthy has hit on the crux of the problem, and like the historian Michael Grant, reaffirms for us just how little we know for certain about Cleopatra's appearance, and, more importantly, how little it really matters.

As is often the case, what a person does matters far more than what they look like. In the end, Dr. King put is most succinctly and eloquenty: we must judge a person by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. And when it comes to character, Cleopatra is one of the most fascinating characters not only of her time, but of anytime in human history.

For more about Cleopatra and the world in which she lived, see:

Antony And Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy, c2010 ISBN: 978-0-300-16534-0

http://www.amazon.com/Antony-Cleopatra-Adrian-Goldsworthy/dp/030016534X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290106917&sr=1-1