KABUKI: Momijigari, Princess Aida (紅葉狩、愛駝姫)

KABUKI: 紅葉狩 (Momijigari)、愛駝姫  (Princess Aida)

8 October 2008 (Sun), Tokyo Kabukiza

The chief attraction here was the second half of the bill, a Kabuki adaptation of Aida directed by the ever-popular Noda Hideki. I’ve said before that I wouldn’t suffer again through Noda’s self-indulgent works, but I somehow convinced myself that I should see at least one of his Kabuki pieces since his other two were such big hits. On top of that, I felt that a Kabuki version of Aida is actually a workable idea. The show is supposedly a sellout, but I managed to get two seats early in the run. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone else as gullible as I am to buy the other ticket, so I took a half-interested friend along as a guest.

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