Margaret_Foland_Classical Theatre History A
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Transcript Margaret_Foland_Classical Theatre History A
Classical Theatre History A Journey
Through Time
The Asian Theatre
By Margaret Foland
AET 541
Dawn R. Tittle
Introduction to Asian Theatre
This section will discuss the theatres and
history of the following Nations:
China
Turkey
Japan
India
It will also bring the philosophy of these
nations into context with the philosophy of
the Western Nations
Asian History:
China, Turkey, Japan, and India
Turkey
Once belonged to the Roman Empire
Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, splits the empire in two
Capital is Constantinople, Turkey – the home of the Byzantine Empire
Theatre came from the West
The Byzantine Empire falls
The Islamic Turks take control of the country
Theatre is illegal due to the fact that it goes against Islam
Please read more here
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108054.html
China
Several Dynasties rule the Chinese lands
Dynasties end, the Imperial Chinese Monarchy begins
Chinese Restoration
Manchus rise in power
Modern China takes hold early 19th century
Revolution Erupts in 1911
China as a Republic
Civil War – against Japan
Japan wins
Civil War – Mao enters
People’s Republic of China – Communists Take over
Please read more here
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/toc.html
Asian History Cont’d
India
Dates back to the beginning of Human civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization
Hinduism rises
Islam comes to India in the 11 century
Muslims rule the country under the Mughal Empire
Sikhs – another religion different from Hindu
Their culture produces better soldiers and once controlled all of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kashmir
India has a Caste System
You marry within your caste, no below or above it
Please read more here
http://www.indhistory.com/
http://www.indhistory.com/
Japan
Settled by migrants from the Asian mainland
Once ruled by the Shogun
Samurai Code
People once lived by fishing, hunting, and farming
Religion
Shinto
Buddhist
Later on Christianity
Please read more here:
http://web-japan.org/museum/historyofjp/histjp.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107666.html
Discussion Questions
What happened to make Constantine want to separate the Roman Empire in two, one East the other
West?
What caused the fall of the Byzantine Empire?
When the Turks defeated the Byzantines, what happened to that country and to Constantinople?
Why does theatre go against Islam
How many dynasties did China have?
Who were the most powerful emperors in Chinese History?
Who was responsible for the Chinese Restoration?
When did China become a Republic?>
When did they become the a Communist Country?
When did India’s History begin?
How does it effect what you already now about History?
What is a Caste System?
How does the religion of India reflect the mixed cultures of the nation, from its past to its present?
What was Tokyo called during the Edo Period?
What is the Samurai code?
Who ruled the nation before the Edo Period?
What does their religious believe reflect the culture of the Nation, from its past to its present?
Asian Theatre –Turkey
Turkish Puppet Theatre - Shadow Puppets
Karagoz, the Turkish Everyman, a star of coffee houses
Always one step behind the bill collector, a street – smart working man
Anti - beaurocracy and anti – pretence
Where there’s a comic there’s a straight man
Hacivat an educated pedantic type is charged with keeping Karagoz under control –
somewhat
Timeless banter
Karagoz and Hacivat engage in the same kind of comic famous by the Marx Brothers and
Abbot and Costello in their “Who’s on First” routine
Predecessors
Hacivat is the great –great – great – grandfather of Ralph Kramden and Homer Simpson
But, sometimes, things go wrong
For example, here’s Hacivat trying to escape – wearing Burcha (Burkha)
Where there is a coffee shop, there’s a way to see a theatrical show
To subvert Islamic law concerning representation of human form, puppets are performed
while back lit, creating shadow figures
As coffee shops – came and gone, these performances are not planned
Asian Theatre - India
India – Theatre/Dance
Life, Religion and theatre are all connected- To dance all are one
The Great Epics of India
The Ramayana – the adventures of Prince Rama
The Mahabharata – the book of sayings and wisdom, their Talmud/Quran
4 dances forms
Bharata Natyam
Kathakali
Kathak
Manipuri
Based on the Vedas
Rig – spoken word
Sama - song
Yajur – movement
Atharva – emotion
Theatre mostly took place in temples
Backstage – AUP – Yavanika
The roof of the acting area once performed outside
held up by 4 poles, same color as the ribbons
colors mean
white – priests
red – nobles
yellow – basic citizens
blue/black – thieves/day labors/ artists
Most stages
richly decorated with wood cravings and more
Back stage
costume changes and sound along with other effects
Asian Theatre – China
Chinese Theatre – Opera (Xipü)
Total theatre, circus, gymnastics, and Opera
all for the price of a pot of team
Flags – coat of arms, 4 flags.
commander of the army
Theatre’s greatest practitioner – Li Yu – playwright, actor, critic, and producer
Wrote greatest Chinese dramatic criticism
Wrote plays for a board audience
40 wives and numerous concubines, traveled with female acting company
Expert on furniture, travel, sexual arts, painting, music, poetry, architecture, diet and hygiene.
The Bejing Opera (Jing Ju) – total theatre
Song, dance, skits, acrobats, colorful costumes, movement, and vocal gymnastics
4 categories of roles:
Sheng – star male (played by men/women)
Dan – star female (played by both men/women)
Jing – “painted face” (played by men/women)
Chou – comic (played by men/women)
Mei Langfang 1894-1961
The legendary Beijing Opera Performer, his style is one of the 4 greatest styles of Opera Performance
Classical Actor Training
Actors Had no official status
Artistry second, craftsmanship first
Discipline rigid/corporal punishment rule
Day begins at 7 am for song, dance, and music
7 year course
no withdrawals
5th year exam
Beijing Opera
Japanese Theatre Forms
Noh – grace personified
The first greatest period of Japanese theatre in the 14th
century (Parallel’s China’s Golden Age)
Combined scholarly and religious tenets with popular
entertainment and allied with Zen Buddhism.
Supported by powerful people in politics, business and art
Kan’ami 1334-1384 and Zeami 1363-1443 Motokiko
Lead a troupe of itinerant performers who performed for the
Shogun
Arranged for 11 year old Zeami’s court education
Succeeded to troupes leadership: Zeami’s trouped attracted
Shogun’s court-freeing him to devote himself to all aspects
of theatre
Zeami – father of Noh
Yugen – tenets of Noh
Yugen – philosopher and physician gracefulness
Tenets of Noh
Actors trained since childhood in acting, singing and dancing
Remarkably sophisticated, move slow to fast and was based
on literary and historical sources
4 roles
1. Shite – leading role
2. Waki – responder
3. Tsure – extra
4. Kyogen – comic
Hashigakari – entrance ramp
Shingeki (western style theatre)
Proscenium Arch
Western Theatre including
Shakespeare's Play
Moliere’s plays
Musicals
Original works
Plays and Musicals based
on Japanese Animation
Japanese Theatre Forms Cont’d
Bunraku
Living Dolls – Bunraku
During Tokugawa period, when Japan was cut off from Europe and China
Noh – state theatre
Businessmen supported Bunraku
Began as reciter and shamisen; puppets added in 1600
Joruri – chanted texts
3 puppeteers needed for each character – one for the legs, one for the left arm and the
chief puppeteer for the right arm and head
The chief handler is dressed elaborately the others were all in black and are invisible
By 1730 puppets grew 2/3 size and Bunraku developed into an art form
Greatest Bunraku writer is Chikamatsu Monzaemon 1653-1725
Wrote for Bunraku and kabuki theatre, it is considered the Japanese Shakespeare
Japanese Theatre Forms Cont’d
Kabuki – made for a woman
Based on rigid codes of Confucian behavior, sacrifice, loyalty, revenge, class system, and
samurai code
In the 1700s, Kabuki combined Noh and Bunraku and folk theatre and it thrived
It was found by Okuni of Izumo in 1603; 15 years there were 7 licensed theatres in Kyoto.
They borrowed the Noh stage
Women started it but were banned in 1629, boys than were used and than banned in 1652
Acting dynasties start with Ichikawa Danjuro 1660-1704, whose line stretches 12 generations to
today’s Danjuro XII – who refined the traditional aragato “rough stuff” style of acting
Hanamichi, a wide stage low proscenium, revolve, musicians on stage
The stage helpers dressed in black and wear hoods, along with dressers to help with changes
of costumes – mostly silk kimonos – that tie in the back
Proscenium theatre – with Hashigakari, for modern day performances
Actors all male to this day
Video clips of Asian Theatre
Japanese No, Kabuki, Shingeki and
Banraku
http://youtu.be/67-bgSFJiKc
http://youtu.be/kTv8uM_jmmI
http://youtu.be/kEUQNvn8EJQ
http://youtu.be/5wLXAUaiojk
http://youtu.be/RG2-iS1bDl0
Chinese Theatre
http://youtu.be/MNfY2YEaEwc
http://youtu.be/RugK1QfvVVI
http://youtu.be/mN9iXlfxpxI
India’s Dance Theatre
http://youtu.be/IYDelWOWVvE
http://youtu.be/9XtVvPlvRn0
http://youtu.be/SgiLOzFQh14
Shadow Puppet Theatre
http://youtu.be/L4V19AVZZQ8
http://youtu.be/I-lOo0pRih4
http://youtu.be/xHOv_Q_KuW0
This is a picture from the Sailor Moon
Musicals from 1996 staring Anza Oyama
as Sailor Moon. This is an example of
Shingeki - Shingeki
Discussion Questions
What is India’s Dance Theatre about?
How does the Hindu Religion play a part in India’s Dance Theatre?
What do the color’s that India has in their theatre stand for?
Where is Turkey’s Shadow Puppet Theatre preformed?
Why do they have shadow puppet theatre instead of a western style
theatre?
In Turkey, shadow puppeteers are trained by who?
What are the three kinds of entertainment in China?
Where can you go to watch a show in China, and is theatre illegal in the
country?
Who is Li Yu and why is he important to Chinese Theatre?
What is Noh theatre and which religion backs it?
What is Banraku and how big are the living dolls?
What is the difference between Noh and Kabuki theatre?
Do they have a western style theatre in Japan, and if so what it called and
why?
References
Asian Art Mall. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.asianartmall.com/kabukiarticle.htm
Dance II B. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.iaac.us/IAAC_dance_fest2010-II/images/dance-II-b.jpg
Karagoz5340. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/AssetsTurkey/ThraceMarmara/k
aragoz5340.jpg
Kunqu. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wwwpersonal.umich.edu/~zzhu/kunqu.JPG
Noh Theatre. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://doriboo09.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/noh.jpg
SeraMyu Antics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seramyuantics.net/
Wilson, E., & Goldfarb, A. (2008). History of the Theatre: Living
Theatre (5th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw Hill.