This paper is a reflection on Petra Doma’s work that explores the impact of the Meiji era’s opening to the West, on Japanese theatre beginning in 1868, through the careers of three prominent actresses. Their art reached their audiences through different routes. Sadayakko was very successful in her home country and in the West (North America and Europe); Sumako only performed in Japan, and Hanako only abroad.  Sadayakko’s husband, Kawakami Otojirō, was a leading figure in the Shinpa (new school) of traditional kabuki theatre, which moved towards Western naturalistic-realistic theatre, and his wife was a star of this style. Sumako was a prominent actress of Shingeki, the Western-oriented modern theatre. Hanako, on the other hand, presented an artificially created blend of styles to her foreign audience, that never existed in Japan. Petra Doma’s work, in addition to a detailed presentation of the period and the actresses’ careers, contains important theoretical reflections on intercultural theatre.