Dancing Noh and Kabuki in Japanese Shakespeare Productions

2021/05/04 by Patricia Leigh Beaman · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Asian Culture and Media Studies #Theatre and Performance Studies #Japanese History and Culture

paper · doi:10.1080/01472526.2021.1927434

openalex publication_date 2021/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06

Abstract

This article examines how three modern Japanese directors have interpolated Noh and Kabuki dance into their productions of Shakespearean plays: Yukio Ninagawa’s NINAGAWA Macbeth (1980); Satoshi Miyagi’s Othello (Noh style, 2005); and Yoshihiro Kurita’s Hamlet (2007). In synthesizing traditions from two contemporaneous, yet culturally disparate, theatrical forms, these directors both honored and disrupted the conventions of Shakespeare, Noh, and Kabuki. The inclusion of Noh and Kabuki movement in these performances is not simply a decorative divertissement, but serves as a vital language for cross-cultural encounter.

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