-Rasa- "flavor"

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

-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

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

- Many plays drew themes from epic literature. 

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

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

- 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. 

-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.

-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:

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

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