Short answers, pulled from the story.
Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre that mixes dramatic performance with traditional dance. It originated in 1603 when former shrine maiden Izumo no Okuni performed a new style of dance drama on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto.
Kabuki became all-male after shogunal authorities banned women from performing in 1629, prompted by fights among young samurai patrons and the prostitution tied to performances. By the mid-1600s it had switched to adult male actors in a style called yaro-kabuki, with male onnagata actors playing the female roles.
The word Kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning to lean or to be out of the ordinary, so it can be read as avant-garde or bizarre theatre. The kanji that spell it can also be read as song, dance, and skill, leading to the translation the art of singing and dancing.
After fires destroyed the Nakamura-za in 1841, the shogun refused to allow it to be rebuilt and used the crisis to force the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za, and Kawarazaki-za out of the city into Asakusa. This was part of the Tenpo Reforms begun in 1842 to restrain the overindulgence of pleasures.
Kumadori is Kabuki makeup that enhances or exaggerates facial lines over a white oshiroi base made from rice powder, producing dramatic masks. Its colors signal character: red for passion and heroism, blue or black for villainy and jealousy, green for the supernatural, and purple for nobility.
Kabuki was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of outstanding universal value in 2005, and in 2008 it was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The three main categories of Kabuki play are jidaimono, sewamono, and shosagoto. Jidaimono are history plays set during major events, sewamono are domestic plays about commoners and romance, and shosagoto pieces emphasize dance to convey emotion, character, and plot.