Japanese Theater Essay

391 Words2 Pages
“Japanese Theater” On our trip to the Japanese workshop I learned many things about Japanese culture and theater In particular Noh. The word “Noh” literally means “accomplishment,” “talent” or “skill. “Noh”, Created in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and climaxed in the 1400s, is a highly stylized, abstract, and philosophical Japanese dramatic form that emphasizes the spiritual aspects of human action and emotion. Noh plays are somber performances that combine elements of dance, drama, music, poetry, and wooden masks into a very creative and ritualized stage performance. The plays are distinct too by emotional intensity and crisis, with the trials of human emotional and supernatural experience developed in slow, mystical rhythms. One of the dominant principles of Noh is yügen, which is the proposal of a hidden truth. The other key concept is monomane, or imitation. There is a worry throughout the drama between revelation and concealment, the known and the unknown. Flawless costumes, masks, poetry, dialogue, and music are used for visual effect, and there is frequent use of symbols and metaphors to accentuate unworldly themes. The peripheral story and characterization are less important than the internal emotions, theoretical questions, and spiritual foundations delivered by the drama, therefore a great deal depends on the audience's imagination to appreciate the essence or soul of the play and its ideas. The main character of a Noh play is called the shite. Often the shite appears in the first half as an ordinary person and reappears in the second half in his “true” form as the apparition of a famous person. Plays also feature a freelance priest who questions the main character, as well as friends of the hero. There is minimal scenery and few props, but often a pine tree is painted on the backdrop, a suggestion to when Noh plays were performed at

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