Having watched a mandatory four hours of Kabuki, not only have you survived an endurance test, you have been witness to one of the world’s most spectacular theatre forms. Quintessentially classic, it’s a window to the socio-political climate of ancient Japan. Considered a “travelling embassy”, Kabuki’s pomp, magnificence and unique style made inroads into the Western mind, inspiring playwrights such as Yeats and Pound, Bertolt Brecht and stage-director Max Reinhardt amongst others. Amazingly, its context remains contemporary and relevant with every generation of viewers. Kabuki is in fact, a stage set forever.

Kabuki can be traced back to the start of the 17th century when the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled the country in what was known as the ‘Edo Era’.
It was during this ‘age of seclusion’, the government having shut its doors to most foreign countries, that Kabuki evolved through the patronage of merchants and the public at large.