Kinoshita Kabuki, the Theatre Company Bringing Kabuki into the Modern Age

Founded by Yuichi Kinoshita in 2006, theatre company Kinoshita Kabuki excels in the art of adapting kabuki for modern times. By revisiting ancient plays and adding a contemporary touch, the company aims above all to make the codes of kabuki more understandable to a modern audience. Indeed, this traditional form of Japanese theatre, in which dialogues alternate with singing and dance interludes, is a highly codified art. From the gestures to the costumes, not forgetting the intonation, make-up and facial expressions that convey the characters’ state of mind, kabuki is not easily accessible to those who do not hold the keys to understanding plays that are over 400 years old. Kinoshita Kabuki seeks to rehabilitate kabuki, which is now no longer as popular as it once was, by giving it a more modern interpretation while still remaining true to the codes of Japanese theatre.

To achieve this, Yuichi Kinoshita, a graduate of the performing arts department of Kyoto University of Art and Design, set to work with his company to produce a modern adaptation of classic plays such as Kanjincho. This daring reinterpretation transcends the boundaries and questions the loyalty of a company towards its manager. All of this takes place in a whimsical dramatisation where the actors, wearing the latest black trainers, perform on a stage lit by bright neon lights and covered with Japanese junk food.

Yuichi Kinoshita does not consider himself the company’s official dramatist; instead, he appeals to young directors for each production, each of whom bring their own vision of kabuki. As the company is keen to modernise and rejuvenate each new play, it dares to use modern costumes and contemporary language, and even incorporates hip-hop and electro music. It’s a risky move, but one which has found a willing audience, who are pleased to watch this dialogue between traditional arts and modern theatre. As Yuichi Kinoshita explains in an interview for the website Performing Arts Network Japan, ‘I think that the most important thing is to respect the classics as they are, while thinking about the nature of the distance that separates them from today’s world’.