Kabuki Brush-Up

Remember that Kabuki performance that seemed like ages ago? Well, it's back. We will be performing it later this week for a variety of classes. It should be interesting, exposing the student body to a type of theatre that is relatively unknown by the general public. I wonder how they will react. Even though we have modernized the scripts, Kabuki is still in many ways different from what people tend to perceive about theatre. And what with it being a high school audience, you can only keep their attention for so long. Considering all these factors, I feel like we will need to definitely emphasize the physicality of the performance in order to garner the interest of the audience. As long as we grab their attention with the stylized poses and exaggerated entrances and exits, I believe the audience will be more drawn to pay attention to the plot and so on. Today's class allotted time for us to rehearse our respective scenes. Though I originally thought my group's scene was one of the best as it stayed relatively true to the style of Kabuki, I found myself doubting how it would carry with the teenage audience. I knew that our scene would not be appreciated as much as another's group who had the language and comedy that would interest a student audience but was less consistent with the Kabuki style. I guess it's just a trade-off one has to make in the creative process.