The Kabukiza this month features such outstanding actors as Danjuro Ichikawa, Koshiro Matsumoto, Kikugoro Onoe, Jakuemon Nakamura and Tamasaburo Bando.
In the afternoon program, "Sakaro (Rowing Backward)" and "Grandpa and Grandma" are separated by two nagauta dance numbers, "Yoshiwara Suzume (Sparrows of Yoshiwara)" and "Fujimusume (The Wisteria Maiden)," by Tamasaburo.
"Sakaro," a stylized kabuki "historical" drama (jidai-mono), was adapted from Act III of the 1739 bunraku play "Hiragana Seisuiki." Koshiro plays the warrior Higuchi no Jiro, a vassal of a defeated warlord. He is living in disguise as a commoner, apprenticed to Gonshiro (Sadanji Ichikawa), an honest, stubborn old boatman, and married to his daughter Oyoshi (Shibajaku Nakamura).