Japanese Noh Theatre

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Japanese Noh Theatre
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What is Noh?

• Formed early 14th Century
• Oldest transmitted performance art in the world
• Integrated popular song and dance from the time
  period
• Influenced by Buddism
• Founded by Zeami (Zay-ahmee)

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Zeami

• One of the most influential figures in Japanese
  Theatre
• His treatise on Noh Fushi kaden (Teachings on
  Style and the Flower) written 200 years before
  Shakespeare is still used today

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Simplicity

• Unlike Kabuki, Noh is based on simplicity
• No scenery and little if any props are used
• Audience is not separated by a curtain
• Chorus and musicians are onstage
• Instead of pursuing realism, Noh pursues the
  expression of inner movement through spoken word,
  music and dance in an extremely simplified
  space.

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Origins and history

• In China, Sangaku and Gagaku were two types
  of performance
• Sangaku a public entertainment, included
  comical performances and parodies, acrobatic
  performances, juggling, and magic
• Gagaku solemn music and dance, largely
  ceremonial in the imperial court and
  aristocrats residences.
• Sangaku spread among the commoners as
  entertainment performed at temples and shrines
• Sangaku becomes Saragaku - the basis for Noh
  showing that Noh was developed from juggling and
  acrobatic performance

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Origins and history

• It is uncertain when the word Noh emerged
• Noh was divided into saragaku-no-Noh (humorous
  mime) focusing on how skillfully the actor played
  the character and dengaku-no-Noh which aimed to
  express subtleness and insight through dance and
  was more symbolic rather than copying the actual
  character
• Both forms organized performance groups led by a
  master
• Each master held great control Zeamis Fushi
  kaden was probably written to pass down the
  artistry he acquired

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Kannami and zeami

• Kannami, a Noh master, added the kusemai
  (storytelling with dance) and singing and dance
  to sarugaku
• A few of his plays are still produced today
• Kannamis son Zeami perfected his fathers work
  and gained support from the shogunate especially
  Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu which led to great
  notoriety
• His refinements led to what is known as the Noh
  art form
• More than 50 of his dramas are still performed
  with his originally lyrics

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Forms and elements

• Most Noh dramas are based on popular classic
  stories among ordinary people
• Zeamis stories fall under the style of Mugen
  Noh or dreamy Noh where the real world and the
  dream world crisscross.
• Although it can be difficult to follow, each
  Mugen Nohs structure is similar so audiences can
  learn the pattern

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Structure of Mugen Noh

• A traveler visits a place and meets a local
  person
• The local person tells the traveler about a
  historic event and a story associated with a
  person at the locality
• At the end of the story, the person reveals that
  he or she is the historic person who was just
  described in the story, and then the person
  disappears.
• After this, the main character once withdraws
  backstage
• The main character later re-appears on the stage
  and "nochiba (the second half of the drama)" of
  the drama starts.
• The local person's ghost appears in the
  traveler's dream, dances to show the past event,
  and gradually disappears when the traveler wakes
  up.

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Characters in Noh

• The protagonist is called shite who plays a
  god, ghost of a samurai or woman, madwoman, or
  supernatural characters such as a goblin or the
  spirit of a dragon
• The waki is a side character and a living
  person
• The waki is often a wandering monk and/or a foe
  of the shite
• This creates a structure where a living person
  meets shite, a diseased character, who seeks
  salvation through the living person
• Noh has minimal characters, it is not unusual
  that a drama is played by two characters

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Five Categories of Noh

• Noh drama is classified into five categories
• God The shite takes the role of a god promising
  peace, happiness and fertility of all grains
• Man (warrior) The shite often takes the role of
  a diseased man, such as the ghost of a samurai
• Woman The shite appears as the ghost of a
  woman. Usually the love of the female ghost
  keeps her on earth and forces her to float around

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Five Categories of Noh

• Madness The shite takes the role of a crazy
  person. Madness does not mean mental insanity
  but rather a situation in which a person becomes
  frantic by thinking too seriously. This
  category can also be referred as miscellaneous
  which includes stories which are not classified
  in other categories
• Demon The shite peforms as a demon or spirit in
  an overwhelming dance accompanied with drums and
  spectacular music

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The noh stage
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The noh stage

• A Noh stage is an extremely simplified space
  which does not have a drop or drawn curtain
  between the stage and the auditorium (kensho).
• Originally performed outdoors, but is now indoors
  designed to look like the open air stage,
  equipped with a roof, a gangway bridge
  (hashigakari), and pine trees planted on the
  bridge in perspective
• Modest lighting to recreate natural light.
• In many cases, large jars are buried under the
  main stage and the gangway bridge. These jars
  function not only to enlarge and improve the
  sound of stepping, music and speaking

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The noh stage
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The noh stage

• Columns provide markers for shite who has limited
  vision due to the mask
• Kagami-ita (back board) always a pine tree
• Jiutai-za chorus seating
• Ato-za seating for musicians (hayashi)
• Koken seating for stage managers
• Hashigakari gangway bridge used as a walkway
  and for scenes
• Agemaku curtain for characters (kiritoguchi for
  chorus, musicians and sms)
• Kagami-no-ma backstage
• Kensho audience seating

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Masks

• 60 basic types of masks and over 200 different
  kinds of masks
• Covering the face with a mask is related to the
  transformation of a person, just like make-up. It
  is said that a Noh mask has an element of spell,
  which provides spiritual power to the Noh actor.
• The Noh mask is called omote.
• Only the shite or his compainion (tsure) don
  masks
• The waki is a living character and therefore does
  not
• Usually, there is no mask assigned to a
  character. Rather, the type of masks to be used
  is designated for each drama. Therefore, it
  depends on the shite to decide which mask he will
  use

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Masks

• It is unclear when Noh masks emerged.
• Originally based more on religious tastes than
  artistic
• As the focus towards subtlety grew, performers
  felt more and more need to conceal the change of
  their facial expressions and the ugliness of
  their aged faces
• As Noh grew towards the modern age, mask designs
  grew significantly as mask makers became an
  independent occupation

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Mask expressions

• Emotional expression is extremely difficult
• Noh actors give expression through the well
  known gestures teru and kumoru
• Terasu raising the face slightly upwards makes
  the mask appear to smile
• Kumorasu lowering the face slightly downward
  makes the mask appear to weep
• Simple and miniscule movements of the mask
  expresses the subtleties of human emotion

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Types of masks

• Jo
• Elder

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Types of masks

• Otoko
• Man

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Types of masks

• Onna
• Woman

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Types of masks

• Kishin
• Demon

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Types of masks

• Kishin
• Demon

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Types of masks

• Onryo
• Ghost Spirit

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Types of masks

• Onryo
• Ghost Spirit

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Props

• As a rule props are seldom used on stage
• The only exception is the tsukurimono
• Tsukurimono are large stage props used to
  symbolize a house, grave, ship, bed, etc
• Built of a bamboo frame it is meant to be
  symbolic of the item rather than recreate it

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Props
Ship
Cobweb
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Chants and music

• Music is composed of vocal (utai) and
  instrumental (hayashi)
• The utai is performed by the actors or the Jiutai
  (chorus) who describe the events, scenery and
  emotion of the characters, but are NOT characters
  on stage
• There is musical scale in utai but rather
  determined by the shite or choral leader

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Chants and music

• The hayashi is composed of four instruments
• Fue or Nohkan - flute
• Kotsuzumi small hand or shoulder drum
• Ozutsumi large hand drum
• Taiko drum beaten with sticks
• http//www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/roles_musi
  cal.html

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Dance and forms

• To perform Noh is to dance Noh
• Specific parts of the drama also include dance
  (mai) which is dance and music combined
• Several types of specific dances are performed in
  each play from the slow dance of the woman to the
  very fast dance of the demon
• Even basic blocking is extremely detailed and
  done with precise movements

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costume

• The costume is called Noh shozoku
• A typical costume include the karaori (outer
  robe) which is extremely ornate
• There are many rules for the color and style of
  costume
• The shite decides what the wears on stage as long
  as they follow the rules

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costume