This week we worked hard on the play production, specially in terms of the completion of the costumes, and for the first time I rehearsed a section of one of my scenes as Akira Toriyama. When actually playing the character I felt a big relief because all of the techniques and theory I had been learning was finally put to practice. Obviously I still have to work on the character, not only the physicality but also on his voice. One of the things that make me feel more comfortable while playing the character is that almost all of the movements have a strict way of being performed, and while these movements can be bent slightly, it still gives me a very straightforward base from which to start, improvisation is almost not needed at all. While acting on a scene, I would usually just try and concentrate as much as I can, and imagine my character's reactions and feelings while i act, but now in Kabuki that method has to be over-written, because acting is not about empathy, but about physical precision and control, almost like a dance. So for the first time in almost all of my life I had to change the method by which I create my character and perform. As we saw on Ernst's Kabuki book, the Kabuki theatre is very different if not opposite to the representational theatre, while one tries to accurately depict real life and human emotion and behaviour, the other takes a more surrealistic approach and exploits the non-realistic to create visually attractive and  physically enduring performances. Come to think of it, it actually makes more sense to go and see something that is away from reality than to see something that is equal to it, because people have always been seeking entertainment when they need to escape their daily routines.

So what is the element in representational theatre that makes it work for an audience?