Word: onnagata
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Dustin Hoffman was a raw ingenue in Tootsie. Though only 33, Bando is already a master onnagata, a man who plays female roles in the centuries-old art of Kabuki. So apposite are his opposite-sex portrayals that he is the object of study by aspiring actresses and real-life geishas seeking to refine their feminine ways. "To act as an onnagata, "he says, "is to try to create an ideal; what I as a man would consider to be the ideal woman." Bando has also done non-Kabuki work, including heralded performances as Lady Macbeth and Desdemona...
...plays, and stories from the Bunraku puppet theater. Parts were passed down the generations as leading theatrical families established themselves. Today, when a Kabuki actor reaches a sufficient level of artistry, he is rewarded with the name of a distinguished ancestor. Leading Kabuki artists like Tamasaburo, 32, a brilliant onnagata, may achieve the popularity of rock stars. One of the most effective works in the tour repertory is Narukami (The Thunder God), first presented in 1684. A stirring tale somewhat resembling the biblical stories of Judith and Delilah, it recounts the bravery of Princess Kumo-no-Taema (Tamasaburo), who journeys...
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