Kabuki, Japan - DP Theatre - Research Presentation (first assessment 2024)

Resources for: Kabuki, Japan

Books

The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism by Benito Ortolani
ISBN: 9780691043333
Publication Date: 1995-03-09
From ancient folk and ritual performances to modern dance theatre, it provides concise summaries about each major theatrical form, situating the genre in its particular social, political, and cultural contexts and integrating a vast array of detail on such topics as staging, costuming, masks and properties, repertory, acting techniques, and noteworthy actors. Complete with illustrations and an extensive bibliography, this book serves undergraduates and specialists both as a reference and as a cultural history of Japan seen from the perspective of the performing arts. (Link is to WorldCat.)
Kabuki: The Popular Theater by Yasuji Toita, translator: Don Kenny
ISBN: 9780802724243
Publication Date: 1970
History and criticism of Japanese theatre and Kabuki specifically. Book 2 of Performing Arts of Japan series. (Link is to WorldCat.)
A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance by Samuel L. Leiter
ISBN: 9780765607041
Publication Date: 2001-06-30
Essays on the history of Kabuki and performances of this theatre genre. Includes a selected bibliography. (Link is to WorldCat.)
The Kabuki Theatre by Earle Ernst
ISBN: 9780585312880
Publication Date: 1974-01-01
A comprehensive study of Kabuki theatre, covering: the development of the physical theatre, the audience and its attitudes, the Hanamichi, elements of the performance, the stage, the actor, plays and characters, and Kabuki and the Western room. (Link is to WorldCat.)
The Kabuki Theatre of Japan by A. C. Scott
ISBN: 9780486406459
Publication Date: 2012-01-17
One of the most comprehensive handbooks available on Kabuki theatre provides readers with all the information they need to understand and appreciate this exciting amalgam of dramatic and musical arts. A clear and thoughtfully written text describes the theater’s development in the context of Japanese history, with detailed analyses of actors’ techniques, music and dance, plays and playwrights, the playhouse’s design evolution, and six representative Kabuki plays. Includes glossary of Japanese terms. (Link is to WorldCat.)
No and Bunraku: Two Forms of Japanese Theatre by Donald Keene
ISBN: 9780231074186
Publication Date: 1990-07-01
Donald Keene combines informative works on two forms of classical Japanese theater into a single volume. The No text looks at all aspects of this traditional theater form including its history, its stage and props, the use of music and dance in its performances, the plays as literature, and the aesthetics of No. Also discussed are Kyogen, the comic farces that are typically interspersed with the solemn No dramas. (Link is to WorldCat.)
The Training of Noh Actors; and, The Dove by David Griffiths
ISBN: 9783718657155
Publication Date: 1998-02-01
This work examines the Japanese Noh theatre historically, philosophically (with an evaluation of Zeami's treatises) and in respect of the Noh training. It includes a short play, "The Dove", which reflects the influence of the Noh theatre and provides references to its cultural source. (Link is to WorldCat.)

Articles

Kabuki
Discusses the history and characteristics of Kabuki, one of two major forms of commercial theater created by actors and playwrights for audiences of urban commoners during the Edo or Tokugawa period (1600/1603–1868) in Japan. Includes an extensive list of sources for further reading. Author: James R. Brandon. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, edited by Karen Christensen and David Levinson, vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002, pp. 293-295. Gale eBooks.
Kabuki Makeup
Topic overview. First performed by females, after 1629 only male actors could take part in Kabuki, and they played both the male and female characters. Kabuki characters are often drawn from Japanese folklore, and a major part of the Kabuki performance is the dramatic makeup worn by the actors. This makeup is applied heavily to create a brightly painted mask that uses colors in symbolic ways to indicate the age, gender, and class of each character, as well as their moods and personalities. Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages, edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, vol. 2: Early Cultures Across the Globe, UXL, 2004, pp. 241-244. Gale eBooks.
Nagauta
Topic overview. Nagauta (long poems or songs) is the dominant musical form for the Kabuki theatre and depicts the various poetic descriptions of the dance and scenes. Nagauta is categorized in five forms: Noh, which draws upon sophisticated structures found within Noh plays as far back as the fourteenth century; kumiuta, which developed from the tradition of grouping together a series of poems set to music, popular in the late seventeenth century; joruri, which was influenced by gidayubushi narrative recitation of the joruri (Bunraku) puppet theatre; Kabuki music, which is suitable accompaniment for dancing; and mixed forms, which contain an assortment of dance borrowed from the other forms.Author: Stacey Fox. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, edited by Karen Christensen and David Levinson, vol. 4, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002, pp. 278-279. Gale eBooks.

Website

Kabuki / 歌舞伎
Links to content related to Kabuki Programs and Prints, Kabuki sets, and Kabuki Dance 舞踊. Presented by the Japanese Performing Arts Resource Center.

OTHER PLACES TO RESEARCH: Geographical Targeting in Google Searches

Kabuki theatre, Japan - Britannica ImageQuest The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) assigns two-letter codes for country-coded top-level domains in Internet addresses. (See link to full country code list below.) These codes follow the ISO 2-alpha codes assigned by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) under its standard ISO 3166 in nearly all cases.

To do a targeted search for websites from a certain country: type in site:, followed by the two-letter IANA country code before your search term

Sample search for websites from Japan with information on Kabuki: site:jp kabuki

Internet Country Codes - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
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DP Theatre - Research Presentation (first assessment 2024): Kabuki, Japan

Resources for: Kabuki, Japan

OTHER PLACES TO RESEARCH: Geographical Targeting in Google Searches

Video for: Kabuki, Japan

OTHER PLACES TO RESEARCH: BHA Databases