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Mackenzi Sigur

Professor Burkhalter

THEA-1010-O04

27 March 2022

Asian an African

The Noh repertoire defines as the influence of conceptualized conventions following

adherence to Zen Buddhism that consists of five centralizations of the expansion of Noh dramas:

Celestial, Warrior, Women, Madness, and Demonic (Brockett et al. 304-308). The state of

isochronism conforms to the innocence and tranquility of the divine microcosm, the repentance

of the fallen, and subjugation of triumphing against unholy diabolism that seeks to corrupt

harmony leading to the dereliction of innocence by the incorporation of traditional dancing to

highlight contingencies expressed through dialogues. (Brockett et al. 304-308). Furthermore,

Noh is a musical that evokes emotional perspicacity, utilizing two principal frameworks: butai

and hashigakari. The butai is the opening stage, whereas the hasigakari is the bridge, enclosed by

four pillars: shitebashirea, metsukabashira, waskibashira, and fuebashira (Brockett et al. 304-

308). Shitebashira, the upstage-right pillar, is the principal characteristic of the actor pausing to

declare the character’s name and background; the actor turns his perception to the downstage-

right pillar or gazing pillar designated as the metsukabashira. A downstage-left pillar referred to

as the wakibashira indicates an area of circumference; the waki sits uninvolved in the

choreographed action (Brockett et al. 304-308). Fuebashira, situated in the upstage-left pillar,

illustrates the virtuoso’s flute position.

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The emergence of Beijing Opera brought a dominant and theatrical form that evolved

from regional forms brought to Beijing to commemorate the emperor’s eightieth birthday in

1790. Moreover, Beijing Opera consists of multiple performances amalgamated while

intermingled with acrobatic arrays. In Beijing Opera, there were four concentrations of theatrical

roles: male, female, painted face, and comic (Brockett et al. 313-315). The male roles cleft into

older men (Lao sheng), young men (xiao sheng), and warriors (wu sheng). In addition, the

female roles branch off into four subcategories: Qing Yi, Hua Dan, Wu Dan, and Lao Dan

(Brockett et al. 313-315). Qing Yi represented quiet and gentlewomen. Hua dan depicted women

possessing exuberant or wanton behaviors. Next, Wu dan illustrated the maidens who served as

champions for the emperor. Finally, Lao dan portrayed women exhibiting frail bodies (Brockett

et al. 313-315). Actors with painted faces, Jing, draw elaborate arrangements on their faces. Each

painting symbolized: warriors, bandits, courtiers, and celestial beings. The chou actors would

improvise on a modern dialect by enjoining mine and acrobatics to tell comics.

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Work Cited

Brockett, Oscar G., et al. “Asian and African: Noh Theatre.” The Essential Theatre, Cengage

Learning, Boston, Massachusetts, 2017, pp. 304–308.

Brockett, Oscar G., et al. “Theatre in China.” The Essential Theatre, Cengage Learning, Boston,

Massachusetts, 2017, pp. 313–315.