STAGE REVIEW : Venerable Kabuki

There are several reasons to see the Grand Kabuki Theatre of Japan and three of the best are named Nakamura. They are Nakamura Kichiemon II, son of the late Matsumoto Koshiro VIII, grandson of the great Kichiemon I and current artistic director of the company; Nakamura Kotaro V, next in line as successor to the exceptional Bando Tamasaburo as an accomplished onnagata (specialist in women’s roles), and the young up-and-coming Nakamura Kasho III.

Along with Sawamura Sojuro IX, the three Nakamuras constitute this company’s principal actors, displaying their precise, rigorous comic skills in a set of two programs: “Narukami” (“The Thunder God”) preceded by “Migawari Zazen” (“The Substitute Meditator”), which played the Orange County Performing Arts Center Saturday and Sunday--and the famous “Kanjincho” (“The Subscription Scroll”) paired with “Osome Hisamatsu Ukina No Yomiuri” (subtitled “Osome no Yonyaku” or “Osome’s Four Characters”), an onnagata showpiece, which will play the Japan America Theatre Tuesday and Wednesday.

It will be the first time in 30 years that “Kanjincho,” a play derived from the classical Noh Theatre of Japan and venerated enough to make the Kabuki Danjuro family’s 18-best list (Kabuki juhachi-ban ), will be performed in Los Angeles. This tour also marks the first time American audiences get to see the distinguished Kichiemon II, an actor whose reputation as a Kabuki performer is matched at home by his celebrity as a film and television star. It is easy to see why, given his power, presence and good looks (in or out of Kabuki make-up), though this distribution of labor among live ancient and electronic modern forms is a relatively new phenomenon--particularly for descendants of a long line of artists molded in a theatrical forge so rigidly bound by history, style and convention.

Judging from the mastery he displayed in the twin comic plays at the Orange County Performing Arts Center Saturday, Kichiemon’s brush with modernity has done no harm Western eyes could detect to his classical and satirical apparatus. Kichiemon was featured as a woman in “Zazen,” a piece which, like a lot of others in the Kabuki repertoire, is adapted from a Kyogen, or comic Noh interlude, called “Hanago.”

In it, Kichiemon plays Tamanoi, the possessive wife of a philandering husband, Ukyo (played by Sojuro), who tries to find a way to escape her in order to visit a lover. After several tries, all foiled by the suspicious wife, Ukyo tells her he needs a night of undisturbed meditation to rid himself of evil dreams. Tamanoi accedes. Ukyo promptly substitutes his reluctant servant (Kasho) as the meditator and runs off on erotic pursuits. When the jealous Tamanoi comes to ply him with goodies and uncovers the ruse, she substitutes herself for the substitute, and waits for Ukyo’s return.

The best of the comedy lay in Ukyo’s drunken stagger home from his night of revels (down the traditional hanamichi ), as he relives his lusty exploits out loud. He then regales the person he thinks is his servant with the same detailed account. Imagine his surprise when he discovers to whom he’s been talking.

Kichiemon’s Tamanoi seemed more sad than formidable, but this play rightfully belongs less to him than to Sojuro, whose elaborate and precise mugging, singing and dancing as the weak-willed and deceitful Ukyo was this curtain-raiser’s centerpiece.

“Narukami,” a tale of seduction and duplicity--or get the priest--was more complex, more evenhanded with its bravura turns and more dazzling. Here Kichiemon played a hermit priest, Narukami, who punishes the emperor (against whom he bears a grudge) by trapping the rain god in a nearby pool and creating a drought. In desperation, the emperor sends the beautiful princess Taema (Tokaro) to seduce him and release the dragon.

What transpires is delicious, including some delightfully comic asides by two acolyte priests (played by Nakamura Mannojo and Nakamura Kichisaburo) and the unhurried, highly erotic and ribald seduction of Narukami by the enchanting Taema.

Kichiemon’s transformation from priest and helpless lover into a raging Thunder God of ferocious demeanor and wild, flying hair is a galvanic example of aragoto (warpath technique), while Tokaro’s accomplished feminine wiles, seductive stratagems and satirical timing confirm his standing as a rising onnagata star.

The extraordinary aspect of Kabuki performance is its astonishing combination of elements and skills: music, song, quasi-choreographed movement, vivid sets, costumes, traditions and make-up, all regulated within an inch of their lives and yet serving the most jocular, classy and captivating fairy tales. Nothing more serendipitously addresses the dreamer and faker in us all.

At the Japan America Theatre, 224 S. San Pedro St., Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Wednesday at 2 p.m. $45-$50; (213) 680-3700.