Review: THE KABUKI SLEEPING BEAUTY Brings to Light Japanese Traditional Theater, Caters to Children

CATCO is Kid's final production of the season brought the far east to Central Ohio with a new take on the classic story of sleeping beauty.

A cast of six adults and nine children took the stage to present The Kabuki Sleeping Beauty, an original work by Steven C. Anderson, CATCO's producing director which was directed by Joseph Bishara, associate producing director for CATCO.

The play opened with the narrators breaking the fourth wall by introducing each character and giving a short description. It was useful to do this so that children can start to understand a willing suspension of disbelief, as the narrators invited the audience to come into their world.

In adapting the classic story, Aderson wanted to honor the art of traditional Japanese Kabuki, which is characterized by using exaggerated gestures to express emotions.

The play featured little dialogue between the cast members, with the majority of the story being told by narrators Naritsune and Young Naritsune. Actors conveyed the story through those exaggerated gestures and to fill in the spaces between dialogue, there was plenty of strings and bells-based music.

I admire the attack and commitment that each actor brought to their role, which for some required demure speaking and movement and others involved loud grunting and larger-than-life, dramatic gestures. This form of theater influenced by Japanese Kabuki lent itself well to children's theater as it was engaging and easy for them to understand. The narrators encouraged clapping after the actors made an action and there were dramatic light changes throughout the play, both aspects keeping the audience engaged as well.

The plot points are quite similar to the traditional Sleeping Beauty story one might be familiar with, with the villan who curses the princess, and the parents and fairy godmothers (or in this case, ghosts) who try to prevent harm from coming to her. In this adaptation, however, the prince did not save the princess, but the princess instead saved the prince by giving him the power to defeat the dragon from her sleep, a modern twist on the traditional damsel in distress archetype. I found myself trying to jump ahead of the story and figure out what was going to happen, but would have been better served to let the play progress, as all of the story was presented in a very simple and direct manner as the plot moved along.

The costuming was beautiful and ornate, with the majority of the actors wearing some type of silk robe to honor the Asian theme of the play. The set decorations were simple, so as not to overwhelm the small stage, but served the uncomplicated story and scenes well.

The Kabuki Sleeping Beauty was set to run for 45 minutes but the performance was actually finished in closer to 30 minutes. Those expecting more of a full-length 2+ hour play may be disappointed, but the shorter time frame is ideal for keeping a child's short attention span.

The Kabuki Sleeping Beauty is the final production of the Catco is Kids season, and a great note to end on. Overall the production was very clean and brought to light an interesting form of theater that perhaps many of the audience members had not experienced.

After the play, patrons were given the opportunity to visit with the actors and take photos with them, which many of the children in attendance took full advantage of. It had to be fun for the actors as well, who had just gained dozens of pint-sized fans from their performance.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. The Kabuki Sleeping Beauty has performances on Friday at 7:30p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30p.m. through May 22.

More information can be found at the CATCO is Kids website.

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