Kabuki theatre: a drag act with a difference

Japanese kabuki is one of the most impressive spectacles in world theatre: a spectacular, heavily costumed affair played by an exclusively male cast. This is one of Japan’s most famous ‘onnagata’ – cross-dressing – actors, Nakamura Shibajaku VII, who has portrayed princesses and courtesans at venues all over the world. Getting ready for work has never been this laborious …

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Mark Lawson’s Theatre Studies

British theatre critic and journalist, Mark Lawson, has recently started an occasional column in The Guardian newspaper called Theatre Studies which puts theatre’s hidden stories in the spotlight. A bit quirky in its content, but readable for that reason. Yesterday’s column was devoted to the history of the theatre revolve.

A 360-degree history of the theatre revolve