Since establishing in 1976, The ANUโs Za Kabuki Club has provided an avenue for both students and their wider Canberra audience to connect with the eclectic style of Japanese performance art.
The clubโs aim has long been to introduce some unfamiliar aspects of Japanese culture to students, and to give them a medium through which they can practise and improve their Japanese outside of the classroom.
The longest running Kabuki troupe outside Japan, they originally began as a modern Japanese theatre group.
โAt first they would perform Japanese theatre in the corridors, then it gradually developed in to a kabuki performance club,โ says producer and club member Waka Okumura.
While theyโre a relatively well-known community within Canberra, recently theyโve looked to expand their reach.
In 2016, Za Kabuki toured Japan and also toured to Melbourne as part of their 40-year celebrations.
When performing locally, they give the traditional theatre style a number of contemporary modifications to help local audiences connect with their performances.
โWe perform in Japanese with English subtitles and include jokes that are a bit more modern and suited to the audience here.
โWe also donโt act in a traditional style either because we donโt have the time โ it would take decades to perfect it,โ Okumura says.
A third year ANU student, this is Okumuraโs second year in the club. She says Za Kabuki has been an excellent way to broaden her cultural horizons and to make friends within its community.
The group is composed entirely of ANU students, whose dedication extends to doing whateverโs required to assemble the sets and costumes for their productions.
โWe have a stack of boxes filled with costumes thatโs mostly comprised of donations from people within the Canberra Japanese community,โ Okumura said.
โMost of the props and sets are then made by the backstage crew.
โYear by year we have to go through our storeroom to sort out what we have and what we donโt have, and make anything we need. Itโs very hands on.โ
For more details or to contact ANU Za Kabuki, visit anukabuki.wixsite.com/zakabuki
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