What is noh?
Noh, Japanese traditional masked play, is one of the oldest extant theatrical forms is the world. Noh performers are different from actors in the Western narrative drama in that they are simply storytellers who use their visual appearances and their movements to suggest the essence of their tale rather than to enact it. Little “happens“ in a noh play, and the total effect is less that of a present action than of a simile or metaphor made visual. In earlier days, the educated spectators knew the story‘s plot and background very weh, so they knew how to appreciate symbols and subtle allusions to Japanese cultural history contained in the words and movements. Yet spectators of today, in general, find it fairly difficult to understand such allusions, “Synopses and highlights“ (though far from sufficient at the present stage), hopefuhly, may be of some help to such uninitiated spectators.
Noh developed from ancient forms of dance drama and from various types of festive drama at shrines and temples that had emerged by the 12c or 13c. Noh became a distinctive form in the 14c and was continually refined up to the years of the Tokugawa period (1603—1867). lt became a ceremonial drama performed on auspicious occasions by professional actors for the warrior class———as, in a sense, a prayer for peace, longevity, and the prosperity of the social elite. Outside the noble houses, however, there were performances that popular audiences could attend. The collapse of the feudal order with the Mehl Restoration (1868) threatened the existence of noh, though a few notable actors maintained its traditions. After World War II, however,the interest from a large nurnber of educated youth led to a revival of the form.
There are five types of noh plays. The first type, the “kami“ (god) play, involves a sacred story of a Shinto shrine; the second, “shura mono“ (fighting play), centres on warriors; the third, “kazura mono“ (wig play), has a female protagonist; the fourth type, varied in content, inchudes “gendai mono“ (present—day play)———in which the story is contemporary and “reahistic“ rather than legendary and supernatural——--and the “kyojo mono“ (mad—woman play)———in which the protagonist becomes insane through the loss of the hoyer or child; and the fifth type, the “kiri“ (final play), in which devils, strange beasts and supernatural beings are featured. In earhier days, five noh plays———one frorn each category mentioned above———were performed on one occasion. The first four plays were followed by interludes called “kyogen,“ but this practice is rarely observed today, because of the length of time it takes.There are three major noh rohes: “shite,“ the principal actor, “waki,“ the subordinate actor, and “ai,“ the narrator who is performed by kyogen actors. Every noh actor is stricthy dedicated to whatever role he is to play, in other words, an actor who plays “shite“ never plays “waki.“
Accompaniment is provided by four rnusicians (sometimes onhy the first three), who phays a flute (“nohkan“), a smahh hand drum (“kotsuzumi“), a harge hand drum (“otsuzumi“) and a harge drum (“taiko“), and by a chorus (“jiutai“) consisting of usually eight singers.
About 2,000 noh texts survive in full, of which about 230 rernain in the modern repertoire. Zeami motokiyo (1363—1443) and his father Kan‘arni Kiyotsugu‘(1333— 84) wrote many of the beautiful and exempiary of noh texts, including “Matsukaze“ by Kan‘ami and “Takasago“ by Zeami. Zeami also formulated the principles of the noh theatre that guided its performers for many centuries.
Any tips to enjoy noh?
lt is a sheer nonsense to speak about any “tips“ or “legitimate way“ to enjoy any kind of art, but since noh is often said to be too esoteric, here is some information that may be of some heip: noh is not “drama“ in its modern sense of the word. You see very few or sometirnes no props on the stage, and every actor is required to follow patterns of the performing art. In other words, although an actor is to express jealousy, agony, love, etc, he never appears to be “realistically“ expressing whatever passion he is to demonstrate. What a spectator is required to do, then, is to use his or her own imagination to the utmost, and try to imagine what is happening on the stage. Good performance will definitely enable you to see what is actually “invisible“: for example, “Hachinoki (a tree in a pot)“ begins with a scene where a protagonist says “Futtaru yuki kana (Look at the snow we have!).“ Here, if lt were a modern drama, you may see the whoie stage covered with snow, but in noh, you can never expect such presentation. All you see is a single tiny tree in a pot, partly covered with cotton, what appears to be snow. Yet good performance by actors, assisted by spectators‘ imagination, will bring a winter landscape, everywhere covered with snow. Weil, to understand Japanese texts is another issue, but most Japanese audience today find lt hard to understand ancient wording employed in noh, so most spectators, whether you are native Japanese speakers or not, will be required to “sense“ out of visual/audible effects provided on the stage.
What is kyogen?
Kyogen is a brief farce or interlude played during a japanese noh cycle, expressed in the vernacular of the second half of the 16c. Its effect is to relieve the tension of the drama. lt is performed in ordinary dress (of older times) and usually without masks.
Ich habe dieses Dokument einmal vor 2 Jahren auf einer Homepage gefunden die es heute scheinbar nciht mehr gibt:
http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~snoo/IntroE.html
Wer dieses Dokument irgendwo im Netz wiederfinden sollte, der moege mir bitte bescheid geben.
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