Traditional Japanese Kabuki theater is marked by slow, deliberate movements.
The New York State Theater Institute’s Kabuki-styled production of Sleeping Beauty keeps the emphasis on movement — other than the narrator, characters have little dialogue — but it picks up the pace.
`There’s lots of action,` co-director Anny DeGange said. `This is more of an homage to Kabuki.`
The drawn-out Japanese style `probably wouldn’t fly here,` she said.
NYSTI’s version, though, was a big hit when the company first debuted a Kabuki-inspired `Sleeping Beauty` in 1978. John McGuire played the prince in that production. This time around, he plays the king and serves as co-director with DeGange.
McGuire, who described `Sleeping Beauty` as a `sumptuous dance drama,` said trying Kabuki was daunting at first, but he was excited that NYSTI created its own interpretation of the style.
`This had a stronger, more edgy posture to it,` he said. `It really became one of our emblematic pieces.`
McGuire said that the show’s previous success gives the theater a bit of a safety net — `We know that it works` — but the cast is also bringing a fresh flavor to the production.
`It’s new again,` he said.
The prince, for example, is played by Toshiji Takeshima, a native of Japan and NYSTI newcomer. Takeshima has a long acting resume; he’s been in a number of American theater productions, and he’s done commercials for Coca Cola and McDonald’s in Japan. He also has martial arts training, which McGuire credits with helping Takeshima make the fluid movements that are central to the story.
Beyond that, McGuire raved about Takeshima’s work ethic. Takeshima has never done a Kabuki piece before, but `you give him a note, and he says, ‘Let me try that,’` McGuire said.
Other leading roles are Joel Aroeste, reprising the role of The Storyteller that he originated, intern Laura Fleming as the queen, and Rosie Spring as Beauty.
Spring caught McGuire’s eye over the summer when she worked as a choreographer for NYSTI’s 2008 Summer Theatre Institute’s production of `Willy Wonka.`
`She has a lot of energy,` McGuire said. `I knew she would fit into the role of Beauty. She’s a very young person inside. She’s very delicate and beautiful.`
Spring jokes that she has `a kind of plum job` since Beauty gets her finger pricked about halfway through the story and spends the remainder of the play sleeping. She’s enjoyed spending the time that her character is awake learning the Kabuki style.
`A lot of the movement tells the story,` Spring said. `The women move kind of submissively. Everyone takes small steps.`
One of the keys of Kabuki is that the audience generally already knows the story, Spring said. So while her character has only a few lines, the audience still understands what’s going on.
The lack of dialogue and elaborate sets does lend some suspense to the production, though.
`You know what we’re going to do, but you don’t know how we’re going to do it,` McGuire said. `You can’t wait to see. Will she really fall asleep? Is there a bed? What is the witch going to look like?`
All of the characters are colorful. One of the trademarks of Kabuki theater is its lavish, ornate costumes.
`It’s beautiful to see,` DeGange said. `The spectacle side of it is just beautiful.`
Prior to signing on to co-director `Sleeping Beauty,` DeGange hadn’t seen much Kabuki herself. So she turned to the Internet, spending hours watching Kabuki productions on YouTube.
That gave her a reference point, but she admitted to learning as she goes.
`To read the script, there’s nothing there to tell you how they want people to move,` she said.“