THTR1170 Study Guide - Final Guide: Zeami Motokiyo, Sarugaku, Jiutai District
11 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Terms
Nogaku
- Influenced by Dengaku and Sarugaku;
- “saragakuno” = sophisticated form; developed by Kan’ami and Zeami
- No= skill or entertainment
Noh Theatre
- Conventions: religious elements; seasons: autumn = sad plays, spring = renewal,
coming to grips w/ something; masks; extreme sophistication of language; stories come
from literary and historical sources
Noh Stage
- Mirror room = where ritualistic prep occurs
- Three pines = represent longevity; go small-large
- Shite-position and naming-place = shite/location/situation named there
- Gazing-pillar = shite uses this to orient themselves
- Waki-pillar and waki-position
- Flute-pillar
- Slit door = chorus entry, “hurry door”
Kan’ami Kiyotsugu
- 1333-1384 - actor, writer of sarugaku; famous no playwright
Zeami Motokiyo
- 1363-1443 - Kan’ami’s son, refined the art, composed works; The Book of the Flower;
took over company after death of Kan’ami
Shite
- Main actor, “performer”; almost always masked; masks are character types (old man, old
woman, demon etc.)
- Tsure = his companion
Waki
- Supporting actor, “bystander”
- Waki-zure = his attendants
Jiutai
- Chorus, “earth singers” - group of chanters
Hayashikata
- Musicians; 2 or 3 percussionists, 1 flute
Categories of No Plays
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- Formalized during Tokugawa period (1600-1867); standardized; supported by samurai
class
- Approximately 250 plays
- 2 broad plays:
- mugen no = shite plays fantasy, ghost, deity
- genzai no = shite is a living character
- Break down according to character and subject matter
- God plays = shite is a deity
- Warrior plays = shite is a warrior
- Female-wig plays = shite plays female
- Miscellaneous plays = mad characters, living characters
- Kiri no = final no; supernatural characters (demons)
Jo-Ha-Kyu
- Governing principle for every aspect of no performance
- Jo = opening (slow)
- Ha = breaking (slightly faster)
- Kyu = quickening
- I.e. beginning --- middle --- ending climax
- God plays = Jo (slowest)
- Warrior plays, female wig plays, misc. = Ha (medium tempo)
- Final/ Kiri no = Kyu (quickest)
Neoclassicism
- Italy: late 16th c.; France 1620s (where Tartuffe was composed)
- Rules: derived from interpretation of classical models (Aristotle, Horace)
- Rule out fantasy/supernatural; important principle of verisimilitude (desire for morality,
reality, generality)
- Emphasize universal traits, behavior; how do you present truth on stage?
- Generalized sets and costumes
- Decorum: characters in plays have to behave in way expected of their gender, status
- Unities: time, place, action
- 5 Act Structure
- Purpose: to learn a lesson
- Purity of form: tragedy or comedy
Romanticism: 1800-1850 - appealed to elites
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- Higher truth beyond early existence
- Period marked by industrialization, urbanization, increase in working class, awareness of
social issues
- Key Figures
- August Comte
- Charles Darwin: Origin of the Species
- Karl Marx Das Kapital
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Acting style
- Emotional outbursts, strong physical gestures (highly dramatic), reliance on
inspiration
- Follow the dictates of own conscience; quest for justice, knowledge, truth
- Closer to nature = closer to ideal truth
- Juxtaposition of the “sublime” and the “grotesque” (hybrid form outside norms, repulses
us); finds beauty in the grotesque
- “Truth” found in infinite variety of creation
- Rebellion against societal constraints, appeal to emotion/passion; spirit of individuality
- Admiration of “genius” (own rules) - freedom of form - inspired by Shakespeare
Melodrama
- Action accompanied by musical score that enhanced emotional tone, suspenseful plot
- Acting marked by overwrought emotionalism both physically and emotionally displayed
- Good = rewarded, evil = punished; sense of moral justice
- Characters were stereotypes (good, evil)
- Climactic moment at the end of each act: tableaux = all actors frozen on stage
- Concealed identities, coincidences, incidental songs and dances all conventions
- “Sensation scenes” = special effects (inc. fire, crashes, horse chases)
- Often set in exotic locales, showcased latest inventions
- Dramatizations of popular novels and notorious crimes
- Special types: “equestrian melodramas” - “aquatic melodramas” - “urban melodramas”
- Special effects: “star trap” allowed actors to pop up out of nowhere; “Pepper’s Ghost” =
ghost projection; hydraulic lift stage; panoramas; electricity key
George II of Saxe-Meiningen
- Director of Meiningen Players - father of Realism
- Ensemble work - very detailed; lavish productions, intensive rehearsals
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