Kabuki time

This past weekend for us was "Silver Week"- a long holiday weekend where we had holidays Mon-Weds (though I still was working Mon and Weds)... but Tuesday, my day "off", I decided to go out on my own for a bit as I needed some alone time. I ended up deciding to try to see a Kabuki show at the old famous theatre in Ginza. Upon arrival, close to the 4:00 show, it was madness with all the people going in for that show. I had to wait in line for the next act (the shows run all day long, but you can go to separate acts) which the box office opened at 5:45 for the 6:10 show. So I waited in line, and luckily had my Japanese Phrases for Dummies book to help me get a better grasp of Japanese. While waiting, I notice I'm one of the few foreigners and probably since it's holiday, a lot of people are out and about. People of all ages are going to the shows, some older ones dressed up in nice clothes or even traditional kimono types, and some dressed regular in street clothes. I had a cotton Japanese-esque summer dress on with flip-flops so I felt adequate enough.
Close to opening time, they informed us the show was sold out and there would only be standing room. I decided why not I was already waiting... so the first show I stood for an hour and 20 mins or so with my purchased head set to understand it in English. The first one was about this group of Samurais dressed like priests who wanted to pass through a forbidden check point and how the coax the guards into letting them pass... while I was in the very back top section, I could still see quite well as the theatre is not that large and I have good eyesight. The main characters wear the white make-up all over their face, with special traditional hairstyles for wigs and big elaborate costumes. They speak Japanese in a weird, kind of slow way that emphasizes the syllables like "ooooooh eeeeeeeeyyy" etc etc. When that act was over, more people left so I bought a ticket for the 2nd one and was able to sit as it was the last show of the day. I thoroughly enjoyed this one a bit more as it was a love story and had more comic relief. It's a very famous one about this girl who rings the bell in the town that there's a fire and sacrifices her life to do so just to open the gates and save her lover's life. Oh, and the main female character is played by a man since only men are allowed to perform, and most of them are older- near their 70s. All in all, I spent a total of around 25 bucks for this experience and it was totally worth it- I feel like I got such insight into their culture and it was quite an enjoyable solo experience. There's not much else I can say to try to convey it as it's just one of those things you need to experience (and photography in the theatre isn't allowed). This is also, Aki informed me, the last year they will have the Kabuki theatre open for shows as I think they are going to rebuild it, so it made it even that much more special.