Prepared by : Prof. Jeremy Reuel N.

Dela Cruz
THEATRE HISRORY
101

A. Noh Theatre
B. Bunraku
C. Kabuki

A.Noh Theatre
(14th century)

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

- first great Japanese theatrical form (late

14th century)
-No (also Noh or Nou) is a type of masked
dance-drama in which extreme stylization of
the actors' movements and the narrative
music evoke a beautiful, mysterious
atmosphere.
- major aristocrat art form

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

* rankings were (respectively

arranged from the
highest to
lowest ):
1. Samurai (warriors)
2. Daimyo (feudal chiefs)
3. hatamoto (lesser warriors)
4. ronin- men adrift

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

1. Playwrights
a. Kyustsugu Kanami (1333-1384)
-considered as the great
innovator
b. Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1444)
-the greatest of all Noh dramatists

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

2. The Actors
* chorus six to ten people
- sings the actors lines when he is
dancing
* main types:
a. waki- the guest, oftentimes a wandering
priest.

b. shite - the hero or chief character

c. kokata -children
d. kyogen- commoners and peasants
e. hannya- an evil spirit
*All.
All Noh performers are male.

The
Shamisen

daiko, or stick-drum; the otxuzumi and

the kotsuzumi, or hand drums, and the
fue, or flute.

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

3. Costumes/ Make-ups/ Hand Properties
- rich in color and designs
- masks, garments , fan, sword or
spear, etc,

A. Noh Theatre (14th century)

4 . The Noh Stage
2 principal areas:
1. butai- the stage proper
2. hashigakari- the bridge

Noh Drama Performances

B. Bunraku
(17th century)

Traditional Japanese puppet theater is known

as Bunraku, a name derived from Oosaka's

(Osaka's) Bunraku-za theater

B. Bunraku (17th century

1. Major Playwrights

a. Chikamatsu Monzeamon (1653-1724)

-Japans greatest playwright
-Works: The Double Suicide at
Sonezaki (1703), Drumming of
thWaves at Horikawa (1707)
-100 puppet plays
plays possess dramatic power and themes--romantic love, the
star-crossed lovers' suicide, and war

B. Bunraku (17th century

b. Uemura Burakuken (1737-1810)
- Bunraku to denote puppet
theatre today was derived
from him

Kabuki
(17th century)

C.

Kabuki (also in 17th century)

- Kabuki is one of Japan's leading forms of

classical drama, featuring all-male casts
performing elaborate librettos over music
provided by shamisen, flutes and drums
with singing styles called nagauta, tokiwazu
and kiyomoto.

C. Kabuki (also in 17th century)

Actors
Roles:

tachiyaku loyal, good and

courageous men
katakiyaku- villainous men
wakashukata/ nimaime- young men
dokekata- comic roles
koyaku- childrens roles
onnagata- womens roles of various
kinds played by men

C. Kabuki (also in 17th century)

4.Costumes and properties
- musicians : wear ceremonial
dress of
samurai
- each role has traditional
costume
- some weighed as much as 50
pounds
- sometimes fans; scarf

C. Kabuki (also in 17th century)

Make-up
- no masks
- some roles required boldly
patterned
make-up to
exaggerate the muscular
confrontation of the face

C. Kabuki (also in 17th century)

6. The Stage
e

References:

Heaven has a Face; So Does Hell : The Art of the Noh Mask;

Stephen E. Marvin, 2009

Noh: The Classical Theater, Yasuo Nakamura, 1971.
The Classic Noh Theatre of Japan; Ezra Pound & Ernest Fenollosa.

1959.
The Kabuki Theatre, Earle Ernst. 1956.
The Noh drama; ten plays from the Japanese selected and

translated by the Special Noh Committee , 1960.

The Noh Plays of Japan; Arthur Waley; 2009.

The Noh Theatre of Japan:With Complete Texts of 15 Classic Plays;

Ernest Francisco Fenollosa, Ezra Pound; 2004.

The Traditional Theatre of Japan: Kyogen, Noh, Kabuki and

Puppetry; John Wesley Twelve Plays of the Noh and Kyogen

Theaters; Cornell University East Asia Papers Number 50; Karen
Brazell (ed.) assisted by J. Philip Gabriel; East Asia Program |
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, (1990).