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How did Tsuruya Namboku IV and Kawatake Mokuami change Kabuki drama?

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bugaku performance — Japanese performing arts *Bugaku*, a court dance adapted to Japanese tastes from the dance and music of 8th-century China and Korea.

During the 19th century, Tsuruya Namboku IV and Kawatake Mokuami significantly evolved Kabuki drama by reflecting the social instability of the late Tokugawa period through their works.1

Contributions of Tsuruya Namboku IV

Namboku is noted for introducing a new genre called kizewamono (gangster plays), which featured characters such as thieves, prostitutes, and ruthless masterless samurai. His writing was characterized by:1
* Supernatural and Grotesque Themes: He frequently utilized ghostly and macabre elements to portray the lives of commoners, blending cruelty, humor, and pathos.12
* Stylistic Innovation: He created rhythmic dialogue structured in phrases of seven and five syllables, which added a new dimension to Kabuki’s stylized form.1

Contributions of Kawatake Mokuami

Mokuami, the last great playwright of the Tokugawa period, further developed the kizewamono genre and expanded Kabuki’s scope:13
* Musical Integration: He used puppet-style music to heighten the pathos of dramatic scenes and wrote elaborate speeches that demanded exceptional elocutionary skill.13
* Modernization: Following the Meiji Restoration, he pioneered zangirimono (cropped-hair plays) to depict the Westernization of society and created katsurekimono, which emphasized factual accuracy in historical dramas.3