THEA 2011 Lecture Notes - Noh, Tokugawa Shogunate
20 Mar 2014
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Document Summary
Unlike other classical theatre, noh is still performed today, in an unbroken tradition lasting hundreds of years, so we can describe it instead of trying to imagine it. The dialog is chanted, in a slow almost monotone style. The shite (protagonist) wears a mask the other characters don t. Traditionally the skills were passed on from father and son. There is only one rehearsal before a performance. Before the play they sit in front of a mirror, contemplating their masks. Under the tokugawa shoguns (1600-1800) noh was restricted to formal court occasions and commoners were banned. Deviations from the conventions were forbidden, so noh has remained the same for hundreds of years.
