This program at the Kabukiza Theatre is especially designed for people from abroad and beginners.
First, you will enjoy deepening your knowledge about kabuki and the Kabukiza Theatre as you are guided by a kabuki actor with videos.
Then you can enjoy a famous play featuring three thieves, and a dance in which ‘shishi’ lion-like beasts wildly shake their manes.

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〈SANNIN KICHISA TOMOE NO SHIRANAMI〉[‘Three Thieves Named Kichisa’]
STORY:
A woman comes after a streetwalker and robs her of money.
The woman is actually a man in disguise. A masterless samurai
also appears and they begin to fight over the money.
Soon, a priest arrives and mediates between them.
This priest is actually the disreputable head of a rundown temple.
The three eventually realize that they are all thieves who happen to share the same name ‘Kichisa’,
and so they become sworn brothers.
Today we can still savor the somewhat decadent atmosphere in the piece that is typical of the late 19th century,
and with its famous poetic speeches that sound so melodic, the play is all the more beautiful.

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〈SHAKKYŌ〉[‘The Stone Bridge’]
STORY:
In Asian tradition, the shishi is not really a lion, but a kind of mythical creature.
This version of the dance closely follows the classical Nō play of the same name.
A high ranking Buddhist priest travels to China to try to cross the stone bridge
into paradise and encounters a woodcutter and a boy. In the second half,
the woodcutter and boy reveal themselves and the shishi shows his power by shaking his mane vigorously.

November, 2024／Kabukiza theatre