How long is a kabuki performance?

Many people brace themselves for length. It is true that at a regular Kabukiza run, each of the matinée and evening parts tends to occupy three to four hours including intervals. But that is not the total for a day — it is one part or the other. Watching both straight through is for devotees, or for special occasions. As a first approximation: one visit means one part, roughly half a day.

Knowing how a part is built changes the impression again. Each part sets several pieces in sequence with intervals between them, and each piece runs thirty to ninety minutes. A weighty history play may be followed by a light dance piece — works of different character deliberately set against one another. The experience is less like one long film than like walking through an exhibition where each room has its own mood. Some intervals run about thirty minutes, long enough to eat a boxed meal in the theatre or browse the shops. That interval is not dead time; it has been part of the pleasure of theatregoing since Edo.

For those who cannot spare half a day, there are single-act seats: literally, seats for one act, at a fraction of the price of a full part. Some acts finish in half an hour; others run close to two hours. The arrangement has existed since Edo as a way for ordinary people to look in on a play without commitment, and it is often recommended as a first step. Where these seats sit and how they are sold differ from theatre to theatre — at some they are same-day only — so check the theatre's own guidance before you go. Curtain times, finishing times and the length of each piece all change from production to production; the official schedule is the reliable source.