The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is commemorating 100 years of English-language Kabuki in the islands this month.
Kabuki is a Japanese theater art form known for its ornately decorated costumes and sometimes bright and colorful makeup designs.
To mark the occasion, students are performing "The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves," a popular Kabuki production that centers on a band of five thieves based on real criminals from Japan's Edo period. The play is more commonly known as "Benten Kozō," written by Kawatake Mokuami.
Theater professor Julie Iezzi is overseeing the production. Professional Kabuki artists from Japan also mentored the student performers.
"The language of it is written in a kind of meter called shichigo-cho, seven-five syllabic meter, and the playwright Kawatake Mokuami was known for using this. And it's a very melodic, it's a very musical language," Iezzi said. "So to hear it in English, I think is quite a treat."
"We hope that anyone coming will have their ears entertained," she said. "There's some wonderful visual spectacle, audience interaction, and a lot of surprises because there's a great deal of surprise and intrigue."
In addition to UH's Kabuki production, the East-West Center is hosting an exhibit entitled, "Kabuki in Hawaiʻi: Connections through Time and Space."
Performances at the Kennedy Theatre continue on April 26-28. Click here for more information.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 25, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
