Noh- a Japanese traditional music drama
Noh is a Japanese traditional form of masked drama that has been performed since the 14th century.
Many plays have just two characters, and musical accompaniment is provided only by a flautist, several drummers and a chorus. Noh actors move in a very distinctive way: wearing white tabi socks, they use short sliding steps known as suriashi.
Noh has a history of around 600 years. Kanami and his son Zeami developed it by combining aristocratic dances and popular folk dances. Noh is unlike any other kind of theatre in the point that it retains its original form and Buddhist overtones.
Today, most Noh performances are presented indoors, but the stages all retain pillars and a roof that reflect the original covered outdoor stages where plays were performed.
Every indoor Noh stage also has a bridge-like walkway with railings. In plays in which the protagonist is a ghost; this is used as the metaphorical pathway between this world and the other world. A play called "Atsumori" features the ghost of a 12th-century Heike warrior who was killed in battle at the age of 16. The ghost expresses his unresolved feelings to his former foe. Japan's medieval period was plagued by war, and the constant fear of death made people see life as a temporary illusion. This kind of Buddhist philosophy is reflected in Noh plays.
Masks are essential props in Noh. By wearing a specific mask, an actor can become a young boy or an old woman, or even a supernatural being, whether it's an ogre or a deity. Noh actors emote using just a mask and minimal movements.
↑Here, the actor raises his hand in front of his face, partially cover his eyes. Called 'shiori', this action expresses wailing in great sorrow. Noh acting is all about achieving maximum effect with minimal stylized movements like this.
Unchanged for centuries, Noh continues to give us a glimpse of the medieval sense of values and beauty. Contemporary drama tends to focus on realism, but Noh is different and is engrossing in a completely different way.
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Noh masks, what kind of impression do you have when you look at them?
Can you decide whether one mask expresses a feeling of happiness, surprise, anger, disappointment, despair, inexplicable sadness, loneliness, or the slightest hope? The mask makes vivid and convincing psychological expression at each scene. The emotional expressions of the masks really change depending on the angle of the spectators’ viewpoint.
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There is a Hannya mask in the house where I was born and grew up. My father’s uncle curved it when he was majoring in the sculpture in the art university in Tokyo. It is more than a hundred years ago. I grew up watching it. I made a Hannya mask out of clay when I was in a primary school, while other classmates were making cats, flowers or vehicles. The Hannya mask which my great-uncle had curved was frightening to me, but sometimes it seemed laughing or saying to me “I understand you, if no one else can.”
A reference in wiki; The Hannya mask is a mask used Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon or serpent. It possesses two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth split from ear to ear.
