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Interculturalism is a defining characteristic of many twenty-first century plays and performances. If we assume that all performance forms are both theatrical and cultural, to what extent can a form be appropriated by another culture while still retaining its aesthetic and communicative powers? This book investigates the potential of a dramatic form to function outside of its native culture by examining productions that make use of kabuki theatrical conventions. Analyzing intercultural appropriation in the work of theatre directors Tadashi Suzuki, Ong Keng Sen, Ota Shogo, and Leonard Pronko, this book demonstrates the artistic possibilities of appropriation and the potential of kabuki to function and flourish outside of its native context. If the spirit guiding the appropriation is investigative, rather than exploitative, then such experiments can lead to meaningful exchanges and developments in the field of theatre.

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Elizabeth Jochum, M.A., is a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She studied kabuki at the University of Hawaii and holds a B.A. in Theatre and Italian from Wellesley College. Her research includes intercultural theatre and interdisciplinary experiments that combine puppetry, robotics, and live-actor theatre.

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