He Fa on Sharaku's Edobei

Black eyebrows rise across a white-powdered face, a short topknot stands upright, and an enormous black collar spreads almost as widely as the shoulders. I bend my knees and lean forward, curling the fingers of both outstretched hands, as though taking Sharaku's Edobei out of the image onto a wooden platform. He Fa's broad nose and slow eyelids put the fierce signs slightly off beat. The entrance is already forceful, but the gesture has not grasped its object.

Performance needs signals that can be read from a distance, or a relation may be overlooked before it is established. I am willing to borrow exaggeration without letting the signal replace judgment. Curled fingers can look dangerous and a powdered face create distance, but the finished image shows only an arranged pose. The viewer's expectation is not behavior already performed.

The large collar broadens the body sideways, while the actual hands are placed foremost, giving viewers an entry for recognition. If the facial type supplies every explanation, subsequent actions may no longer be watched carefully. A character can help a relation begin quickly, but should not make it impossible to update afterward. If new action changes the first impression, judgment needs room to follow. The pose is forceful enough; it need not testify in advance for things that have not happened.

I still lean forward on the wooden platform, my eyes not quite cooperating with the raised brows. I want to retain this half-beat delay, without rushing to prove to the audience what kind of person I am. When a hand actually approaches something, look at how it touches. The detail then may deserve more trust than this excessively loud entrance.