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- Combines noh, bunraku and folk theatre
-developed by a shinto priestess  by dancing on a temporary stage set up of a dry river bed.
- dance was the basis of the early form
-stories were often romantic and erotic
-orignially most performers were women, but feuds over sexual services forced authorities to intervene and women's kabuki was banned.
-it was then performed by young boys, but they felt that that too was too sexual and boys' troupes were also banned.
-men's troupes which deemphasized sexual glamour became the rule, and still is due to concern about mixing of different classes and sexual relationships between performer an audience members
-eventually the eroticism was reintroduced due to the development of female impersonation
-Kabuki and puppet theatre became rivals
- samurai were restricted from seeing kabuki shows, but attended in secret.
-used an acting technique called aragato which had a lot of bravura
-Shows such as The Forth-Seven Ronan and Chushingura  were popular kabuki plays that were originally written for puppet theatre.
-ghost-stories were also popular.

Producing Kabuki
-Kabuki actors are trained from childhood
-often used male actors playing women's parts called onnagata who used stylized gestures and attitudes to come across as women
- kabuki acting was often larger than life and more fantastic than realistic
- the kabuki stage had a wide proscenium
-musicians accompany the stage action
-they used a revolving stage
-a hanamichi or flower way connected the rear of the auditorium to the stage. actors would enter and exit from here as well as perform short scenes.
-they used elevator traps to lift actors and set pieces.

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- Japanese puppet theatre
-hilight strict codes of behavior such as sacrifice, loyalty and revenge
-the name derives from a famous puppeteer
-companies of puppeteers would act out stories to illustrate the music that is being chanted
-these chanted texts are called joruri
-the puppets for important characters are operated by three people: one for the legs, one for the left are and one for the head and right arm.
- the handler that controls the head is often dressed in elaborate costuming, while the others are in black to seem invisible.
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
- Playwright whose puppet plays were adapted for kabuki
-he created vivid, detailed, and accurate depictions of society
- his heroic plays are loosely based on the nobility
-his domestic dramas highlight problems of the middle and lower class that are based on actual events
-greatly believed in Japanese codes of behavior, especially the conflict between social responsibility and personal feelings.
-he emphasized ordinary people which was an entirely new concept to Japanese stage.
-often compared to Shakespeare.
-Known for The Battle of Coxinga, The Courier for Hell, and The Love Suicides at Amijima

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- Began in the 14th century
-roving troupes of actors performed various styles
-Notable troupe led by Kan'ami who was also a playwright.

Wrote Sotoba Komachi

-influeced by pantomime to musical accompaniment

-His son Zeami took over for him later on

Zeami Motokiyo
-established aesthetic and philosophical basis of noh.
-he borrowed elements of earlier dance dramas and incorporated them into his works
-124 of his plays are still in the noh repertoire.
-he was heavily influenced by the study of Zen
-developed Yugen which is the inner heart or spirit that is behind the outward form. It is the aim of every noh performance. it can also be described as a gracefulness.
-he was exiled for political reasons, but later returned

Characteristics of Noh theatre
-Noh was the dominant form of theatre until well past 1600
-Noh actors are trained from childhood.
-Noh plays use sophisticated language and center around a series of organizational principals that grow from a slow to fast tempo.
-Characters are based on literary or historical figures
-Noh plays typically reveal some working out os passions felt by a character that appears as a ghost.
- Types of Noh characters:

shite- main character, often masked

waki- supporting character

tsure - accompanying role

kyogen- comic character

- There are two main types of Noh plays: Phantasmal and present existence

Phantasmal

divided into two parts

PART 1: someone is on a pilgrimage and visits a famous site related to the life of the main character where they find a local who will say something about the main character and then disappear.

PART 2: The chief character appears and reveals that they were the local in disguise. They then describe a profound experience and ends it with a dance. The second half typically has a combination of poetry with music and movements

Present Existence

The action occurs to living characters in the present.

this type of theatre had a strong influence on kabuki

PRODUCING NOH
- the Noh stage is still the same today
-The hashigakari  is a bridge that leads from the actors' room offstage to the stage, normally 20 feet long
-the main playing space of the theatre is usually 18 square feet, roofed, has a ceremonial pine tree painted on the rear wall
- narrow stage area behond the main playing space was for four musicians who play a flute, small hand drum, large hand drum, and stick drum
-Noh theatres were originally outdoors with the audience was seated on three sides of the stage, while the modern Noh theatre is built within a larger shell with the audience seated on two sides of the stage
-there is typically a chorus of 10 men
-actors move in a very stylized way and alternate between chanting and altered speech
-costumes and masks are elaborate and effective.
-developed into kyogen - or short farcical interludes performed between acts of the plays using a great deal of slapstick and humor

these plays are often performed without costumes, masks, or wigs unless they are parodying a noh play

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- The Japanese followed a religion called Shinto which allied nature and spirit worship. This and buddhism have strong influences on Japanese theatre.
- The earlist record of japanese theatre is court entertainment in the Heian period (794-1195 C.E.)
-14 century we saw the beginning of Noh theatre

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- In Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam the shadow play became popularized.
-Wayang or traditional theatre in Indonesia often refers to live puppet theatres.
-performances made by storytellers accompanied by music is know as wayang beber.
-the most well known puppet theatre is wayang kulit which uses light and shadow. Flat puppets made of buffalo hide are mounted on sticks behind cloth. The puppetmaster also speaks the dialogue.
-another popular form is wayang golek which are wooden doll puppets controlled by rods
-the last form of theatre to come from Southeast Asia was wayang wong, or live masked dancing.

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A Clip from the Lute Song musical from 1959

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A Clip from the Lute Song musical from 1959

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London Cast ~ Original Broadway Recording

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Mary Martin sings Lute Song and other famous shows

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Please enjoy this rare clip of Mary Martin from her one woman television show that was televised Easter Sunday 1959. She was reportedly quite ill with the flu during the telecast but you wouldn't know it from the lovely singing of some the magic moments in her Broadway career.

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Royal Shake

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The Orphan of Zhao | Royal Shakespeare Company

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http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/the-orphan-of-zhao/ Watch director Gregory Doran talking about his inspiration for The Orphan of Zhao. This beautiful new adaptation is written by James Fenton and Directed by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran. The Orphan of Zhao is on at the Swan Theatre, 30 October 2012 - 28 March 2013

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-  Shang dynasty first Dynasty
-Zhou dynasty the era of Confucius,  Lao-Tzu, Mencius.
-Confucius- Emphasized the responsibility of one individual or group to others
- Lao-Tzu - Taoism- Stresses simplicity, patience, and nature's harmony and following the Tao leads to self-realization.
-Menicus- all people are good and moral sense can be cultivated or perverted by enviornment
-Shamanism combines costume, song, dance, and gesture making it similar to theatre, they were believed to be able to talk to spirits  and ward off evil.

Tang Period
- The first actor's training academy was the Pear Academy

Song Dynasty
- court entertainment led to variety plays
-acting travelling theatre troupes and permanent theatres existed
- Low comedy was like vaudeville
- Nanxi - southern drama that employed 4 types of characters

sheng- male character

dan- female character

jing- painted face

chou- clown

YUAN DYNASTY 1279-1368
- literati were no longer employed by government so they turned to writing theatrical pieces to make a living.
-a form of drama called Zaju is developed

they are composed of four acts

texts composed to suit rhythms of popular music

the protagonist sang all the songs

these plays only had  a few characters and avoided subplots

- popular titles from this era include: The Orphan of Chao which was the one first Chinese plays knows in the west and The Circle of Chalk
-Both actors AND actresses performed during this time. They each would play both male and female roles.

these performers were organized into troupes, some were even led by women

-Chinese theatre spaces had two doors with painted fabric in between , they did not use scenery but they did use elaborate costume and makeup.
MING DYNASTY
- By now theatre was a respectable art form
-several actors could now sing instead if just the lead and accompaniments became very complex
-Lute Song by Gao Ming was extremely popular during this era and eventually became a Broadway musical in 1946
Li Yu
- Was China's first drama critic
-believed a playwright should write clearly with the audience in mind and have practical stage knowledge
-he himself was a playwright
-he focused on plot construction, dialogue, music and versification
-he had 40 wives and ran a theatre troupe of young women which was accused to corrupting young men
-Li Yu's plays were often criticized for his dramatic style because he favored entertainment and the the poetic style of other playwrights.
-he wrote mainly situational comedy with sophisticated dialogue and plots that revolve around the lives of everyday people.
- his plays include: Ordained by Heaven, Be Circumspect in Conjugal Relationships and The Error of the Kite.

-eventually Chinese theatre began to lose contact with the larger public and fizzled away.

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- Arabs invaded India at the end of the 12th century.

Islamic rule discouraged theatrical activities

- Folk dramas remained popular and some are still performed today.

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Kalidasa's Shakuntala presented in Kathak style by East-West School of Dance Choreography: Pt. Satya Narayana Charka

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- Considered the greatest playwright of  the classic Indian period
- Wrote Shakuntala

details the romance of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, the foster daughter of a hermit, who secretly marry and are then subjected to a long separation brought about by the curse of an irate sage. After many trials, the lovers are reunited and the king finally meets his son and heir.

seven acts

has both serious, comic and supernatural elements

often performed today as a play, opera and a ballet.

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-Sanskrit dramas stressed the belief that the soul/spirit is the essence of life and the goal of all people is to  achieve oneness with the supreme world-soul
- This world-soul is known as Brahman. Brahman is eternal, infinite and indescribable unlike things of this world.

-Natyastra- encyclopedia of theatrical practice

describes mythological origin of theatre in India and presents material about the nature of Indian drama. Also included descriptions of the theatre space.

information related to a series of metaphysical principals.

-Rasa- "flavor"

rasa permits spectators to surrender themselves into the dramatic situation in a way that corresponds to the feeling they possess

this then turns theatre into a way that the viewer can reach enlightenment and art becomes a pathway to the divine.

-Plays were performed by troupes  led by an main actor that managed all the other actors called the sudtradhara

these troupes included BOTH men and women, men were the main performers.

-Sanskrit drama combined voice, body, emotions, costume and makeup to create a whole piece.

-they used fixed characters such as clown and narrators

- The theatre the shows were performed in were 96 feet long x 46 feet wide divided equally into stage and auditorium

probably sat 200-500

4 different colored pillars signified where people of different classes were to sit

stag was split into two parts, one for action and one to change/ for backstage

the space was typically in courtyards

-Scenery was not used for these plays, however elaborate costuming would have been.

- Many plays drew themes from epic literature.

Little Clay Cart  is one of the most famous plays from this era.

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- Culture traces back to 3000 BCE

-Buddhism gains popularity in 400 BCE and teaches that suffering in inherent in life but humans can be liberated from suffering by mental and moral self - purification
-Sanskrit dramas began to be produced.

Sanskrit was the language of the noble class, 50-60 plays were written in this language.

due to this plays had little following among the common people

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- Asian theatre relies more on dance

- symbolism is emphasized

-embrace a technique called total theatre which integrate elements of acting, mime, dance, music and text into the production.

-similar to opera with it's blend of ideas, art and technique.