Transcript japanese theatre noh theatre kabuki theatre

JAPANESE
THEATRE
NOH THEATRE
KABUKI THEATRE
• Japenese Noh Theatre first began in Japan in the
14th Century.
• It was originally thought to have been connected to
Buddhist and Shinto rituals.
• Noh is always performed on a special kind of stage.
• There are only five schools that train Noh actors in
the whole of Japan and each one has its own style.
• In 1647, a law was passed that said that each school
could not change its traditions.
• Actors wear complex masks and costumes.
• Japenese Noh actors are always male. Actors have to
come from acting families. They play only one of five
roles. Actors move and talk very slowly. They always
wear masks and costumes. Actors train from being
four or five years old. The masks are made from
wood. Actors are taught special gestures. The plays
last for five or six hours. The audience usually know
the plot already.
The Noh Mask Effect: A Facial
Expression Illusion
• The full-face masks worn by skilled actors in
Japanese Noh drama can induce a variety of
perceived expressions with changes in head
orientation. Rotation of the head out of the
visual plane changes the two dimensional
image characteristics of the mask which
viewers may misinterpret as non-rigid changes
due facial muscle action. The figure below
shows the same Edo-period Noh mask,
Magojiro, at three inclinations.
• Kabuki is the most famous of the forms of Japanese
theatre.
Spoken and sung in 'old Japanese', even the Japanese themselves
find it difficult to understand. It is a little like a Japanese version of
Shakespeare performed at the opera and the performances last a
number of hours. The word 'kabuki' is made of three characters in
Japanese: 'ka' meaning 'songs', 'bu' meaning 'dance' and 'ki'
meaning 'skill'.
• Unlike Noh Theatre, Kabuki actors don’t wear masks but they do
wear very complex and dramatic make-up. The colours and styles
of the make-up show whether the character is good or evil. The
revolving stage and trapdoors mean that impressive entrances
and exits occur throughout the performance.
• The stage for the Kabuki Theatre is very unusual in design.
Hero /
Villain