“I am not what I am”: The Ambivalence of All-Male Performance in Ninagawa Yukio’s Twelfth Night
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This article studies the concept and practice of gender ambiguity in Japanese theatre culture by examining Ninagawa Yukio’s Twelfth Night (2009). Ninagawa employs an all-male cast to emphasise the subject of gender ambiguity and fluidity. By adapting some traditional Kabuki forms, he tries to recreate the beauty of ideal femininity through the convention of onnagata, which can be understood in the context of Japanese cultural preference for ambiguity in representing gender and sexuality. However, at the same time, his actors present a series of stereotyped gender actions based on the principles of Shingeki, which highlights the distinction between female and male roles in modern Japanese society. As a result, although his theatrical practices of gender ambiguity allow the audience to explore multiple gender roles, they are not radical enough to question the present concept of femininity and masculinity that have been socially constructed and accepted. Ninagawa’s eclectic use of different acting forms reflects the anxiety of Japanese culture regarding both conservative and radical attitudes towards gender. By examining the descriptions of the female characters performed by the male actors, this article explores how Ninagawa perceives the traditions of gender ambiguity in Japanese theatre culture, and points out that the director is still trapped in the gender stereotypes by adopting the acting style of Shingeki.
Abstract
This article studies the concept and practice of gender ambiguity in Japanese theatre culture by examining Ninagawa Yukio’s Twelfth Night (2009). Ninagawa employs an all-male cast to emphasise the subject of gender ambiguity and fluidity. By adapting some traditional Kabuki forms, he tries to recreate the beauty of ideal femininity through the convention of onnagata, which can be understood in the context of Japanese cultural preference for ambiguity in representing gender and sexuality. However, at the same time, his actors present a series of stereotyped gender actions based on the principles of Shingeki, which highlights the distinction between female and male roles in modern Japanese society. As a result, although his theatrical practices of gender ambiguity allow the audience to explore multiple gender roles, they are not radical enough to question the present concept of femininity and masculinity that have been socially constructed and accepted. Ninagawa’s eclectic use of different acting forms reflects the anxiety of Japanese culture regarding both conservative and radical attitudes towards gender. By examining the descriptions of the female characters performed by the male actors, this article explores how Ninagawa perceives the traditions of gender ambiguity in Japanese theatre culture, and points out that the director is still trapped in the gender stereotypes by adopting the acting style of Shingeki.
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