“Katari” in Kabuki Acting

Abstract

The “katari” in kabuki acting holds an important role, especially when it is presented as one of these three kinds: “monogatari”, or the story-telling, in gidayu-kabuki, “tsurane”, or the rhetorical narration, in aragoto-kabuki and “hitori-gatari”, or one-man's narration, in wagoto-kabuki.

“Monogatari” requires the actor to be skillful enough to make the audience imagine that he is re-experiencing what he is narrating, or that it is happening here and now.

“Tsurane” was originally regarded as having the power to soothe an evil spirit. This narration in kabuki is a rhetorical description of the landscape or environment, not the expression of personal feelings or thoughts as in Shakespearean soliloquies.

“Hitori-gatari”, on the other hand, started in wagoto-kabuki, which had been originated in the Osaka-Kyoto area at the end of the 17th century. This is a type of narration which tells the past love story in a gentle and delicate tone.