My Choice of World Theater Tradition

After doing further research, I have decided that the world theater tradition I want to study for my IB Task 3 Project is Rakugo. I want to study this Japanese form of theater because it is very different from the theater I am used to performing. Playing multiple characters on my own and making them clearly distinct from each other, using just my voice, expressions, and mannerisms, sounds like a trying but exciting challenge that would push my acting range. I am generally a pretty expressive person when it comes to my body language, so I hopefully will be able to work around the limit of having to remain seated for the whole performance without much difficulty. The minimalist nature of Rakugo performances also means that I would not have to worry too much about preparing stuff for my performance; only two props are allowed, and you can’t change costume mid-show.

There is also an unexpected appeal to be found in just how long Rakugo has lasted. It has been around since Japan’s Edo period that started in 1603 and is still somewhat popular there to this day. The core tradition having changed very little in the centuries it’s been around, serving as further proof of its value to both Japanese culture and the world of theater. In addition, unlike some of the other world theater traditions we could choose from, Rakugo plays aren’t all from just one genre. While Rakugo performances tend to be on the more lighthearted side, they can be comedies or family dramas. There are also different variations of Rakugo, such as ongyokubanashi (musicals), kaidanbanashi (stories with ghosts), and ninjōbanashi (more sentimental stories), though these usually lack the punchline (ochi) that serves as the climax of traditional Rakugo plays. This will give me slightly more leeway when it comes to putting on an example performance myself for this project. With all of this in mind, I am very excited to begin my world theatre traditions project and look more into Rakugo theater.

Here are two sources I found about Rakugo:

First website

Second website

Sample IB Task 3 Rakugo Presentation (the grade the student received, as well as some of the teacher’s comments, can be found in the comments section)