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In fact, when long plays are produced in toto, such as famous play about the 47 rōnin, Kanadehon Chūshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), people will leave the auditorium for a Japanese boxed lunch (bentō) or a Big Mac whenever they wish, not only at the time of intermission. But they return when the moment is right, when there is something on stage that is exciting for them to see, emotionally charged or action-packed. Kabuki is a theater to be enjoyed and one which allows men and women alike to indulge their aesthetic and emotional energies, not one to tax their brain.
But you might ask, "What does this have to do with an actor's stepping out of character at the very edge of an exciting moment in a kabuki performance?" The answer is "very much." By doing so, the actor makes the important and exciting moments, which are the essence of kabuki's attraction to most people, even more momentous and exciting. His actions serve as a part of the theatricality. The actor says, in effect, look at me, listen to me, and pay attention to the next scene. These are what we call asides in the Western theater; however, in kabuki they are part and parcel of a number of techniques—visual, aural, and kinetic, used to attract the attention of the audience to especially dramatic and compelling moments. Instead of creating suspense through the development of a plot, the suspense is created with the physical form of the production, that is, with the help of these asides, the costuming, makeup, sets, music, intonation of the voice, gesturing, movement, and props. All of these, and the ability of the actor, are the indicators of how emotionally charged the moments can be in a play, which can include sacrificing a child to death, vassalage or a brothel, losing a loved one, preparing to commit suicide, fighting off a powerful opponent, saving a lover, and deciding to take out revenge at all costs. The use of asides before, during or at the end of, serious moments in the action to attract the attention of the audience may seem an unusual technique to those unfamiliar with kabuki or contemporary forms of theater influenced by kabuki, but, as I said, it is one of the many techniques-visual, kinetic, and aural-that alert the audience to the importance of a particular moment in a scene.
Although character is important in kabuki, character development is not. The very dramatic and expressive makeup helps to betray the actor's character the instant he enters the stage. For example, when you see red lines on a white face they are the mark of a good and just character; certain shades of green and blue a villainous character; black a divinity or transformed character. The male actors, and all of them are male, wear stark white makeup and special paint, ornate and large wigs, and female costumes to turn them into female impersonators, onnagata. The costumes can be gorgeous and elaborate, or simple and unadorned; however, whatever their manifestation, they make a statement about the scene visually and immediately without recourse to plot. By means of appearance alone an actor can change on stage or take off his makeup, wig, or costume and thus change his character to another. The transformations can be very dramatic. A beautiful woman can change into a serpent, a priest into an insect, or, a fox into a man and then on stage turn back into the fox he really is. The movements and dances of the actors help. There are any number of special ways to walk, the most famous of which include the roppō, a very deliberate step used in entrances and exits along the hanamichi by strong male roles, a walk no one in the audience can ignore, and the onnagata walk, including one on very high wooden shoes (geta), so high that the actor must hold the shoulder of an attendant. The former instantiates the macho, the male; the latter the exquisite, feminine characteristics. The twists and turns of costuming and action are accompanied by twists and turns in characterization, which, as I said, these external features indicate. The sound effects, including the instruments: the gongs, drums, bells, flutes, and the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument, provide backup and can also help to attract attention to the action.
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