Word: kabuki
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...might look to the past for inspiration, but Shido (who, in the Kabuki tradition, is commonly known by his first name) is very much a man of his day. His film debut in last summer's Ping Pong, in which he played a demonically intense table-tennis champion named Dragon, netted him a Best Newcomer trophy at the Japanese Academy Awards, along with a host of other laurels. He followed up on the small screen in Japan's first sitcom, HR, as a bleached-blond rebel who spooks his night-school classmates with insinuations of underworld connections, and orders pizza...
...Still, many of Shido's defining qualities as an actor were developed on the Kabuki stage. "His training taught him to work within narrow limits, so he knows how to make a lot out of small opportunities," says Hitomi Hagio, a Tokyo-based film and theater critic. That's made Shido a natural character actor. Whether dolled up in white face paint and a kimono playing a samurai's prodigal son, or hamming it up on TV alongside pop idol co-stars, he visibly savors each one of his roles. And his gift for satire, evident in HR, reflects Kabuki...
...Theater: Kabuki Gets...
...Like many in his line of work, Shido is descended from Kabuki aristocracy. His grandfather was Tokizo Nakamura III, one of the kings of the 20th century Kabuki stage; his uncle Tokizo Nakamura IV perpetuated the lineage; and several of his brothers and cousins are also mainstays in the Kabuki world. He's not the first from his family to cross genres?uncle Kinnosuke Yorozuya was an icon of postwar Japanese cinema...
...Although Kabuki is an insular and conservative culture, it isn't the artistic trap it might seem. In fact, it's recently become a fertile breeding ground for film and TV talent. Twenty-five-year-old Shinnosuke Ichikawa cultivates a parallel career as a TV-drama heartthrob, and 20-year-old rising star Shichinosuke Nakamura landed a supporting role in this year's Tom Cruise vehicle The Last Samurai. Tokyo's Asakusa Kokaido theater has capitalized on the trend by staging Kabuki plays showcasing younger actors. "They realize that people like Shido are the key to Kabuki's future," says...