Young Kabuki actor breaks tradition

Centre stage: Maholo (in red) performing his official stage debut at the Kabuki Theatre and with his parents Shinobu and Laurent (right) in Tokyo. — AP

Ten-year-old Maholo Terajima Ghnassia loves watching anime and playing baseball. He likes making beats and whisper ASMR. And he’s breaking conventions in Japan’s 420-year-old Kabuki theater tradition.

In Kabuki, all the roles are played by men, including beautiful princesses – a role Maholo accomplishes stunningly in his official stage debut as Maholo Onoe at the Kabuki Theatre in downtown Tokyo. In the performance, which ran May 2 through 27 to full audiences, he starts out disguised as a woman, dancing gracefully, before transforming into sword-wielding warrior Iwami Jutaro.