In a typical Western performance, actors never break character. They focus on the stage and don’t even acknowledge the audience or the fact that they are being watched. In kabuki, this is not the case. Actors would actually stop during their performances - usually during a climactic moment - and engage with the audience. They would explain about their family’s history of being actors and about how their family has always played this particular role. Or, they would look around the room and thank all of the merchants there for gifts they had received earlier. Then, the play would recommence as if no pause had ever taken place. This technique actually helps to build up and suspended the dramatic illusion of the play, leading to an audience holding their breath, eager to know what happens. The only equivalent to this in our society is a commercial break that just coincidentally happens to fall right before that “epic fight scene” or the “reveal of a secret love”. Except in kabuki, the actors are giving telling you a story, not trying to sell you a product.