A world-renowned kabuki actor is bringing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Hawaiʻi this summer. Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII, an eighth-generation kabuki master, will lead an intensive workshop at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa August 1–18, offering rare, hands-on training in this vibrant classical Japanese art form.
“This opportunity to train in kabuki with a professional is truly unique,” said UH Mānoa theatre professor Julie Iezzi. “Nowhere else in the world, not even in Japan, can those outside of the tradition train under a kabuki actor.”
Spirit of kabuki
The two-week workshop, offered Mondays through Fridays through UH Mānoa’s Outreach College and Department of Theatre and Dance, is open to students, alumni, and community members, and will focus on Kabuki movement and vocal training. Two course tracks, credit and non-credit, are available for beginners and advanced beginners for $1,350 (non-credit) and $1,500 (credit). The program ends with a recital showcasing students’ work on August 18th at 4 p.m. in the Earle Ernst Laboratory Theatre.
“Different from the realism of Western theatre, I hope students will learn the unique performance techniques of kabuki, which express the spirit of a character while also valuing the beauty of form,” Monnosuke said.
Eighth-generation master
Monnosuke, whose family’s kabuki lineage dates back to 1713, is no stranger to UH. In 2024, he and his apprentices trained student actors for UH Mānoa’s English-language kabuki production, The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves. That production not only sold out performances but also received a first-ever invitation to perform in Japan, where it was enthusiastically received.
Kabuki has deep roots in Hawaiʻi. In fact, the university staged the first known English-language kabuki production in the islands 100 years ago. Today, UH Mānoa is helping keep that legacy alive.
- Related UH News story: 100 years of Hawaiʻi Kabuki in English: Masters from Japan train UH actors, December 10, 2023
Kabuki legacy
With guidance from Iezzi, UH Mānoa’s theatre and dance department is breathing new life into English-language kabuki, an art form that flourished on the Kennedy Theatre stage under the leadership of late UH Mānoa Professor James R. Brandon and master kabuki actor Nakamura Matagorō II, with vital support from community artists Onoe Kikunobu (dance) Yamada Chie (music) and Joji Wago (wigs and makeup).
Monnosuke and his wife, Yukika, first met Iezzi in 2016, already aware of the university’s rich kabuki traditions and eager to support its continuation.
“They were wondering about future plans for kabuki, and actually
came at the perfect time, since I, too, was searching for artists interested in helping to rebuild the complex infrastructure of knowledge necessary to continue doing kabuki productions,” Iezzi said.
For more about this summer’s kabuki workshop, visit the Outreach College website, or contact iezzi@hawaii.edu, (808) 956-4377.
