Japanese Theater
Noh
Kabuki
Bunraku
Noh:能
It is performed since the 14th century
It later influenced other drama forms such
as Kabuki
According to Zeami who brought Noh, all
Noh should create an aesthetic ideals called
“Yugen”(subtle) and performed spirit and
“Hana”(novelty).
Noh means…
Accomplishment or
performance
Noh
Esthetics of Noh based on Buddhist Zen
Zen – attitude of repose and withdrawal
from earthly/worldly desire and
distraction.
Buddhism
According to Buddhism of the 14th
century, a person could not find spiritual
release even after death if he still
possessed a strong emotion or desire.
This desire had to be exorcised- in a
dance/battle
The play
Extremely intense
To express something so abstract as an
emotion, words are often inadequate.
Dance and poetry are used to express the
tortured heart.
Stylized movement
Yugen
The performance of a Noh play is to
evoke Yugen (grace) which is a mood or
state of mind to respond to the beauty of
the performance.
Can you compare this to anything in
Western Theater?
Flower
Noh plays evoke the “flower”—the fusion
of esthetic, spiritual and moral beauty of
a performance.
Energetic and spirited form of
entertainment associated with Buddhism.
Noh
Part prose and verse lines sung or chanted
Highly stylized
Short plays
Musical dance drama for which the script is a
framework for choreographic orderly
movement
Situation in lyrical form
All ends in a dance
Dialogue and song precede to serve to outline
circumstances to motivate it.
Types of Noh
Those set in the real world
Those with apparitions (most likely)
the past is usually in retrospect
Noh is chanted drama and for that reason
some people have dubbed it Japanese opera.
However, the singing in Noh involves a
limited tonal range with lengthy, repetitive
passages in a narrow dynamic range
Melody isn’t at the center of Noh singing.
Still texts are poetic, relying heavily on the
Japanese seven-five rhythm
Performers
 There are four major categories of Noh
performers
1. Shite
2. Waki
3. Kyogen
4. Hayashi
--Shite: the most common form of
actor . They play various functions
including
--Tsure: Shite’s companion
-Jiutai: chorus, usually 6-8 actors
-Koken: stage assistant usually 2-3
actors
2. Waki: perform the role that is the
counterpart of Shite
3.Kyogen: perform the Aikyogen interludes
during plays. They also perform in
separate plays between individual Noh
4.Hayashi: instrumentalists who play the
four instruments, flute, hip-drum,
shoulder-drum and stick-drum
Mask
Noh is unique its slow and its use of distinctive
masks
All masks have names
Usually only Shite, the main player, takes the
mask. However in some cases the Tsure may
also take mask particularly for female roles.
The Noh masks are used to portray a female or
nonhuman character (divine, demon, animal)
5 Types of Masks
Male
Female
Deities
Monsters
Aged
There are also Noh masks to present
youngsters or old men. On the other hand,
the Noh actor who takes no mask plays a
role of an adult man in his twenties,
thirties or forties.
When used by a skilled actor, Noh masks
have the ability to depict different
emotional expression according to head
pose and lighting. An inanimate mask can
have the appearance of being happy, sad
or variety of subtle expression
Stage
Noh play takes place on a stage made of
Hinoki wood (cypress)
Stage is bare with the exception of the
“kagamiita”, a painting of pine tree at the
back of the stage.
Another unique features of the stage is
the “Higashigakari”, the narrow bridge
to the left of the stage that the principal
actors use to enter the stage
Props
Fan is the most important
Rising Moon
Falling rain
Swords, spears
Costumes
In contrast to the unadorned stage,
costumes are lavish. Especially those in
the Shite role wear rich silk brocades.
Story
 A typical Noh play involve all categories of
actors and usually takes 30-12minitues
 There are about 250 plays that are performed
in the current repertories. There are five
categories of Noh plays organized roughly by
subject.
1. God play 2.Warrior play 3.Woman play 4.
Miscellaneous play 5. Demon play
The format
 Play opens with a priest or secondary character
entrance.
 A description of the scene to the audience
 Main character enters disguised as a local person
 Local person reveals to the secondary character the
significance of the site
 He exits
 He returns dressed as his true self with a mask and
robe.
 The mask raises the scene to out of the ordinary to a
magical moment and heightened emotion –this is then
depicted in a music and dance to show the emotion.
The assignment
Think up possible plot that embodies the
emotion of an intense moment.
Identify the emotion that entrapped the
person –fear, sadness, loneliness etc..
Many contemporary events can be used—
like…Princess Diana’s death, Martin
Luther King’s death, 9/11….
Kabuki:歌舞伎
歌: sing
舞: dance
伎: skill
Therefore sometimes it translated as
“the art of singing and dancing”
History
The history of Kabuki began in 1603 when
Okuni who called herself a priestess began
performing a new style of dance drama in
Kyoto.
Female performers played both men and
women.
It was about ordinary life.
The style was instantly popular.
Kabuki History
Much of its appeal in this era was due to the
ribald, suggestive performances put on by many
of the imitators; these actresses were often
available for prostitution.
In 1629 woman were banned from the stage
for the stated purpose of protecting public
morals.
From 1653 only mature men could perform
Kabuki, which developed into a sophisticated,
highly stylized form.
Make-up
One well-known trademark of
Kabuki is the extravagant make-up
style called kumadori that is used in
historical plays. There are about a
hundred of these masklike styles in
which the colors and designs used
symbolize aspects of the character.
Red tends to be "good" and is used
to express virtue, passion or
superhuman power, while blue is
"bad", expressing negative traits
such as jealousy or fear. Make-up
provides an element of style easily
recognizable even by those
unfamiliar with the art form
One of Kumadori make-up of
red and blue
Stage
Kabuki stage and theaters have steadily become
more technologically sophisticated and
innovations including revolving stages and trap
doors.
The kabuki stage features a projection called
“Hanamichi” ( 花 道 ： literally flower path)
which is a walkway extends into the audience
and via which dramatic entranced exits are
made.
Kabuki Stage
.
1 Mawari-Butai: Turntable –
used to change scenes. Invented by
Japanese: first used in Kabuki
2. Oh-Zeri: King –sized elevator
used to bring scenery from cellar to
stage
3. Seri: lift for actors and sets
4. Geza: stage left/ Music box
Place where music and sound
effects are produced
5. Yuka: Narration stage
Narrator’s playing place
6. Hana-michi: Flower Path/ Stage
Road
7. Suppon: lift where monsters
appear
Since it runs through the audience, it
allows for a closer experience for the
spectator than might normally be
allowed by other forms of traditional
theater.
Music
By far the most important instrument used
in Kabuki is the three-stringed shamisen
(三味線, literally "three taste strings")
which is a three-stringed musical
instrument played with a plectrum.
In addition to the onstage music, singers
and musicians playing the shamisen, flute
and a variety of percussion instruments are
also located offstage. They provide various
types of background music and sound
effects.
A special type of sound effect found in
Kabuki is the dramatic crack of two
wooden blocks (拍子木: hyoshigi) struck
together or against a wooden board.
Story
It is said that 10,000 plays have been written
since its start and although many have
disappeared, over 200 classics are still
performed.
Kabuki plays are divided into three overall
categories. 1. Jidaimono: historical, Samurai
story
2.Sewamono: domestic concerned a
scandal, murder or suicide 3. Shosagoto: dance
pieces
Bunraku:文楽
Bunraku is also called
Ningyou jyoururi
（人形浄瑠璃: literally means
puppet narration）
Bunraku:文楽
Puppet plays in Japan are believed to
have their origin in 10th or 11th century
Bunraku developed before 1600 in Osaka
and spread throughout Japan
Performers
Three kinds of performers take part in a
Bunraku.
1.puppeteers
2.chanters
3.sha misen
.
Performers
1. puppeteers
The puppeteers manipulates the puppet
by means of order of seniority. There are
one for the head and right arm, another
for the left arm and the last for the legs
In its early days, the puppeteers were
hidden a curtain. Now they are in many
cases in full view of the audience but
wear black outfits and black hoods over
their hands. Usually the head puppeteer
remains his hood during a performance
The puppets are large. Usually about one
half life size
2. Chanter
and shamisen
the chanter and shamisen
player were also behind the
curtain at its beginning but
now they are given their own
small stage to the right of
the main puppet stage
Story
Many Bunraku plays are historical and
deal with the common Japanese theme of
Giri and Ninjo which is about the conflict
between social obligations and human
emotions.