are stagecraft

Stagecraft

Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...

 tricks used in Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 theater, making use of trapdoor

Trapdoor

A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling .Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position....

s, revolving stage

Revolving stage

A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show...

s, and other equipment.

Often translated as "playing to the gallery," many drama enthusiasts consider these sorts of adaptations to be demeaning to the art of kabuki. According to one scholar, "Rapid 'trick' appearances and disappearances of the actor are relatively few and are held in low esteem by the Kabuki connoisseur

Connoisseur

A connoisseur is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts, cuisines, or an expert judge in matters of taste.Modern connoisseurship must be seen along with museums, art galleries and "the cult of originality"...

, who refers to them as keren (playing to the gallery)".

Primary forms of Keren

: Makes use of strings to make an actor fly out over the audience, often up into the third floor of the theater. For obvious reasons, this would come into use when portraying various sorts of flying creatures such as ghosts, spirits, or the bird-like tengu

Tengu

are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami...

. Ichikawa Ennosuke III

Ichikawa Ennosuke III

is a Japanese Kabuki actor, famous for his love of keren . He is considered the king of chūnori; he has flown out over the audience, held aloft on strings, over 5000 times....

 is often called "the king of chūnori"; he performed it for the 5,000th time in 2000, playing the role of Guan Yu

Guan Yu

Guan Yu was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the...

.

:Is used to effect quick changes of costume for an actor while he remains on stage. Sometimes this will be done with strings which pull off or pull apart a top layer of costume to reveal another costume underneath. In a technique called , the outermost layer is held on with only a few threads; stage assistants called kuroko

Kuroko

are stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre, who dress all in black.In kabuki, the kuroko serve many of the same purposes as running crew. They move scenery and props on stage, aiding in scene changes and costume changes. They will also often play the role of animals, will-o-the-wisps, or other...

appear on stage and pull these threads, allowing this outer costume layer to come off quite quickly and easily. This might also be accomplished even more simply by having the actor pull his top layer off or apart himself. Hayagawari is used for a number of characters who remove disguises to reveal their true identity, and for hengemono, dances in which a single actor plays multiple roles.

:Refers to a number of different special effects involving water.

: Refers to the stage traps that have been commonly employed in kabuki since the middle of the eighteenth century. These traps raise and lower actors or sets to the stage. Seridashi or seriage refers to the traps moving upward and serisage or serioroshi when they are being lowered. This technique is often used for dramatic effect of having an entire scene rise up to appear onstage.

: Refers to the dramatic destruction of on-stage edifices.