Added: May 17, 2008
From: NTDTV
Duration: 1:45
CHEN: And theatergoers in Berlin are being treated to a new show. Traditional Japanese theatre Kabuki is being performed in Berlin's House of Cultures. The piece known as "Summer Festival: Mirror of Osaka" had its European premiere this Wednesday. STORY: Main actor Nakamura Kanzaburo is seen as a national saint in Japan. The 52-year-old star of the popular Kabuki theatre is the 18th generation of his family to perform the theatre. [Nakamura Kanzaburo, Main Actor]: "I would be nothing without Kabuki. I would have no reason to live because Kabuki means everything to me." The actual piece was first performed in 1745 and was originally ten hours long. But together with the director Kushida Kazuyoshi, Kanzaburo shortened it to just three hours. [Kushida Kazuyoshi, Director]: "People used to have more time. It used to be the case that a group of people in a community came together and performed Kabuki from sunrise to sunset, for ten hours." The drama revolves around three fishmongers who strive to become Samurais. Their adventures involve mud-wrestling, slap stick and corruption. The colorful performance then ends with a murder. Gestures and scri pts for the play have been handed down traditionally from father to son for around 400 years. Kanzaburo hopes that Kabuki will continue to be popular with future generations and that the modern version of the theatre will encourage young people to go along and watch. Only men are allowed to perform Kabuki, even taking on the female roles. And for all of those who do not speak Japanese, the show is simultaneously interpreted into German and English.
Channel: Entertainment
Tags: berlin japanese kabuki kanzaburo nakamura news ntd ntdtv theatre traditional
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Khodorchan Says:
May 17, 2008 - Array