VIDEO: Rare kabuki masterclass hits Hawaiʻi, public invited to showcase 

Students practice kabuki movement and voice.

Eighth-generation kabuki master Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII

Karese Kaw-uh (left) trains with Monnosuke.

Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/rsy

***VOSOT script below for consideration***

A world-renowned kabuki actor is bringing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Hawaiʻi this summer—and the public is invited to experience it. On Monday, August 18, at 4 p.m. in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Earle Ernst Laboratory Theatre, audiences can experience a free recital where students share the movement, music and artistry they’ve learned from the eighth-generation kabuki master. 

This August, Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII is leading an intensive workshop at UH Mānoa, offering rare, hands-on training in this vibrant classical Japanese art form.

“This opportunity to train in kabuki with a professional is truly unique,” said UH Mānoa theatre professor Julie Iezzi. “Nowhere else in the world, not even in Japan, can those outside of the tradition train under a kabuki actor.”

Spirit of kabuki

The two-week workshop, offered Mondays through Fridays through UH Mānoa’s Outreach College and Department of Theatre and Dance, is filled with students, alumni and community members, and focuses on kabuki movement and vocal training.

“In thinking about the future, I feel that this is a really good opportunity to help spread knowledge about kabuki to more and more people around the world,” Monnosuke said through a translator. 

Among the students studying under Monnosuke is Karese Kaw-uh, who earned an MFA in theatre for youth at UH Mānoa and starred in the university’s kabuki production in 2024.    

“What I love about kabuki is that you have to hear the rhythm and the sound. And so the pieces that we’re working on really deal with music and movement. So we have to listen to cues and say the words in a rhythmic pattern,” Kaw-uh said. 

For 19-year-old Zumi Guillermo-Togawa, a student at Kapiʻolani Community College, the best part has been exploring the different ways kabuki characters can move and express themselves.

“My most favorite part is learning about the different characteristics and personality for just the walks, not even just the voices, the walks, the mie and how it differs depending on the character and character type,” said Guillermo-Togawa. 

Eighth-generation master

Monnosuke, whose family’s kabuki lineage dates back to 1713, is no stranger to UH. In spring 2024, he and his apprentices trained student actors for UH Mānoa’s English-language kabuki production, The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves. That production not only sold out performances but also received a first-ever invitation to perform in Japan, where it was enthusiastically received.

Kabuki has deep roots in Hawaiʻi. In fact, the university staged the first known English-language kabuki production in the islands 100 years ago. Today, UH Mānoa is helping keep that legacy alive.

Related UH News article: 100th anniversary: Kabuki music masters guide UH students, March 14, 2024

Kabuki legacy

With guidance from Iezzi, UH Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance is breathing new life into English-language kabuki, an art form that flourished on the Kennedy Theatre stage under the leadership of late UH Mānoa Professor James R. Brandon and master kabuki actor Nakamura Matagorō II, with vital support from community artists Onoe Kikunobu (dance), Yamada Chie (music) and Joji Wago (wigs and makeup).

Monnosuke and his wife, Yukika, first met Iezzi in 2016, already aware of the university’s rich kabuki traditions and eager to support its continuation.

“They were wondering about future plans for kabuki, and actually came at the perfect time, since I, too, was searching for artists interested in helping to rebuild the complex infrastructure of knowledge necessary to continue doing kabuki productions,” Iezzi said.

Hamilton: Honoring kabuki 

This fall, Hamilton Library will open a new exhibit in the Asia Reading Room honoring kabuki. Crafted by Japan’s Shōchiku Company and gifted to UH in 1939, the intricate kabuki theatre model has been in storage for nearly 90 years in different places. In partnership with the Department of Theatre and Dance, a new exhibit case will allow the model to be permanently displayed, alongside other Performing + Exploring Kabuki at UH Mānoa exhibits. 

Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/rsy

B-ROLL: (2 minutes, 5 seconds)

:00-:39 Kabuki workshops 

:40-:54 UH Mānoa 2024 kabuki production 

:55-1:02  file of past kabuki performances at UH Mānoa

SOUNDBITES:

Karese Kaw-uh/Student, UH Mānoa kabuki workshop (pronounced: KAH-Woo) 

(16 seconds)

“What I love about kabuki is that you have to hear the rhythm and the sound. And so the pieces that we’re working on really deal with music and movement. So we have to listen to cues and say the words in a rhythmic pattern.”

Julie Iezzi/Professor, UH Mānoa theatre and dance (pronounced: YET-zee)

(12 seconds)

“It’s pretty much impossible unless you’re a Japanese male living in Japan and going to be in the kabuki world so this is a really rare opportunity to be able to study directly with a master outside of Japan.”

Zumi Guillermo-Togawa/Student, UH Mānoa kabuki workshop

(18 seconds)

“My most favorite part is learning about the different characteristics and personality for just the walks, not even just the voices, the walks, the mie and how it differs depending on the character and character type.”

Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII/Kabuki master (pronounced: Moh-noh-skay the eighth)

(12 seconds)

“In thinking about the future, I feel that this is a really good opportunity to help spread knowledge about kabuki to more and more people around the world.”

INTRO
A centuries-old Japanese art form is stepping into the spotlight in Hawaiʻi and the public can see it for free.

(NATS kabuki music) 

VO
Eighth-generation kabuki master Ichikawa Monnosuke is leading an intensive workshop at UH Mānoa. He’s guiding students through precise moves, rhythms and artistry of this historic Japanese theater. Students will share their work in a free recital on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre. 

SOT 

Karese Kaw-uh/Student, UH Mānoa kabuki workshop 

<“What I love about kabuki is that you have to hear the rhythm and the sound. And so the pieces that we’re working on really deal with music and movement. So we have to listen to cues and say the words in a rhythmic pattern.”>

VO
UH Theatre Professor Julie Iezzi says the chance to study under a kabuki master is extraordinarily rare.

SOT 

Julie Iezzi/Professor, UH Mānoa theatre and dance 

<“It’s pretty much impossible unless you’re a Japanese male living in Japan and going to be in the kabuki world so this is a really rare opportunity to be able to study directly with a master outside of Japan.”>

VO

Kabuki has a long history in Hawai‘i. UH Mānoa celebrated 100 years since its first English-language kabuki just last year.