Noh theatre, is a traditional Japanese theatrical form and one of the oldest existing theatrical

forms in the world.

Its name derived from nō, meaning “talent” or “skill”, is unlike Western narrative drama. Rather
than being actors or representors in the Western sense, Noh performers are simply storytellers
who use their visual appearances and their movements to suggest the essence of their tale rather
than to pass it. Little happens in a Noh drama, and the total effect is less that of a present action
than of a simile or metaphor made visual. The educated spectators know the story’s plot very
well, so that what they appreciate are the symbols and subtle references to Japanese cultural
history contained in the words and movements.

Noh actors, who were always male in the medieval period, famously move and make gestures in
a very slow and highly stylized manner while they wear masks of particular designs which show
the characters they are playing such as youths, aristocratic women, warriors, and demons.
Greatly influenced by religious rituals and Buddhist themes, the plays are often concerned with
moral dilemmas and the next life.

History:

Noh developed from ancient forms of dance drama and from various types of festival drama at
shrines and temples that had emerged by the 12th or 13th century. Noh became a distinctive form
in the 14th century and was continually sophisticated up to the years of the Tokugawa period
(1603–1867). It became a ceremonial drama performed on positive 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 Meiji Restoration (1868)
threatened the existence of Noh, though a few notable actors maintained its traditions. After
World War II the interest of a larger audience led to a revival of the form.

There are five types of Noh plays:

 God Plays (kamimono) - a play with a religious theme, usually with a deity as the main
character.
 Warrior Plays (shuramono) - aka hero plays, where the main character is a doomed
warrior or male character, most often a figure from the Gempei War (1180-1185 CE).
 Women Plays (kazuramono) - aka wig or heroine plays, where an aristocratic woman is
the main character. There is usually much less action in these compared to the other
plays.
 Miscellaneous Plays (kyjomono and genzaimono) - typically a play where the plot
revolves around the emotions of a 'real' person such as love, jealousy or courage.
 Demon Plays (kiri no) - where the characters are deranged or obsessed women, demons,
and ghosts.

In addition to this classification, plays are also divided into the four seasons and only performed
at that specific time of year.
A typical Noh play is relatively short. Its dialogue is light, serving as a mere frame for the
movement and music. A standard Noh program consists of three plays selected from the five
types so as to achieve both an artistic unity and the desired mood; habitually, a play of the fifth
type is the concluding work. Kyōgen, humorous sketches, are performed as interludes between
plays. A program may begin with an okina, which is essentially an invocation for peace and
prosperity in dance form.

Roles:

All performers in noh are male.

 Shite - the leading character. Depending on the play, the shite may act as a holy old man,
a deity, a demon, a spirit or a living man. His movements express various moods.
 Waki - the supporting actor. The waki plays roles such as a priest, monk or samurai. In
contrast to the shite, the waki always portrays living people.
 Hayashi - the musicians. Four musicians provide accompaniment for the performance
with a flute, shoulder drum, hip drum and stick drum.
 Jiutai - the chorus. The chorus sits to the left of the stage and assists the shite in the
narration of the story.
 Koken - stage attendants. Dressed in black, the stage attendants are not part of the play
but assist the performers in various ways, such as handing them props.

Stage:

Noh is performed on a square stage with a roof which is supported at its four corners by pillars.
All sides of the stage are open except for the back side which consists of a wall with a painted
image of a pine tree. A bridge runs at an oblique angle off the stage for performers to enter the
stage. Noh used to be typically staged outdoors, but recently modern indoor theaters have also
become a common venue.
Masks:

One key element of noh are the masks which the shite wears. They tell the audience what kind of
character is being portrayed. Frequently used masks represent demons and spirits, as well as
women and men of various ages. The masks are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress. Their
three-dimensional properties allow skilled actors to induce a variety of expressions with changes
in head orientation.

Costume and Props:

There are, too, very few props used by the actors - perhaps a hand fan, parasol, a bell, or a letter.
As a result, the focus of attention is always on the actors and their movements. There is
sometimes a bridge which leads off the stage or merely a curtain which allows the actors to
depart to change their costumes. Costumes consist of multiple layers and textures that create an
effect of magnificent elegance but also a bulky, massive figure. Sadness is enhanced by props,
most notably a folding fan. Closed, partly closed or open, the fan may represent any object as
suggested by its shape and handling, for example a dagger or a lantern.

Kyogen

Kyogen are the comic pieces performed at intervals between the main noh performance. They
utilize satire and witty jokes and are often performed with rhythmical language and sometimes
exaggerated actions to inspire laughter from the audience. Most kyogen pieces last for about 15-
20 minutes and involve two or three actors. Plots are usually about stories of everyday life, such
as men expressing their desire to find wives or farmers praying for good fortune.

Extra:

Generally, a Noh play has three main sections:

 Introduction (jo) - the secondary character takes the stage and explains the setting of the
story. The tempo is slow.
 Development (ha) - the main character takes the stage and there is an exchange between
the two principals where significant events are explained relevant to the story.
 Climax (kyu) - the main character appears in a different mask representing his true
identity. He receives help of some sort from the secondary character and is thus freed
from whatever moral or physical dilemma he has found himself in.
 In the medieval period women were not permitted to perform in Noh theatre, perhaps
because of the influence of male-dominated Buddhism, and so all roles - both male and
female - were played by men. Another reason may have been that although professional
actors sometimes had their own fan clubs, they did not enjoy a particularly high social
status in Japanese society.
 The main performers in a Noh drama wear masks which are made to represent certain
typical characters such as young women, old men, warriors, priests, spirits and demons.
The masks even have their own names such as that representing a young woman, the Ko-
omote. There are two main roles in a play: the leading character (shite) and the second
character (waki). The second actor may have a follower or companion (tsure). Only these
three actors wear masks.
 It is the physical performance of the actors & their execution of classic Noh gestures that
most impresses audiences.
 As the main actors rarely speak any lines, occasional characters such as ghosts and
wandering monks often add commentary to the action of the play to help explain the
significance of the highly stylized- movements of the principal actors. Sometimes, too,
actors deliver portions of famous Japanese poems (waka) by way of mini-interludes
between dramatic scenes.