1. The Theatre of Asia By: Seth Wilmes, Anjuli Mostek, Kasey Laber,
Suzanne Shepherd,
Michael Bissen,
and John France

2. Theatre of Asia 3 Main Sections
India
China
Japan

3. Started from the Middle East Roots Based on Greek Texts
The Drama of India
Started from the Middle East Roots
Based on Greek Texts

4. Sanskrit Dance-Theatre
Sanskrit dance theatre was achieved around 200 B.C and remained popular
The Natyasastra is the most comprehensive study of theatre from the ancient world
Two primary genres of Sanskrit Theatre
Praka- based on theme of love
Nataka- based on well-known heroic stories of kings or sages

5. Sanskrit Dance-Theatre Continued
This theatre was performed indoors within a roofed building that was rectangular
4 Columns hold the roof or an upper pavilion up
Sanskrit drama died out around the tenth century.

6. Kathakali The most widely known dance-drama Kathakali means story play
The audience could leave anytime, eat, or even sleep during the performance
Actors had to train from early childhood because it is so difficult
Based on two Indian epics
Ramayana
Mahabharata

7. Drama of China

8. Chinese Opera: Xiqu
China = oldest home of Asia’s oldest continuous theatre tradition.
Provides common metaphors for daily life
Proverb wentai jiaphua = we learn our real world behaviors from stage performance.

9. Xiqu’s Origins Zaju (“various plays” – in China during Song Dynasty
Zaju = comedic music-dance-drama; acrobatics and clowning
By 1644 Zaju succeeded by kunqu

10. Kunqu
Still preformed today.
“Clapper Opera”

11. Staging of Xiqu
Xiqu is sceneryless, and presented in a wide variety of surroundings
Usually outdoors : parks, restaraunts etc.
Audience is free to talk & eat (very laid back)

12. Staging cont’d Plays are almost always anonymous
Based on well known stories from Chinese history or myth.
All plays include both serious and comic elements

13. Staging cont’d Serious and Comic not tragedy and comedy Instead…
Civil plays (wenxi)=love, marriage, and domestic justice
Martial plays (wuxi)=battles, banditry, and armed rebellions.

14. Staging cont’d A second terminology seperates them into…
Great plays (daxi)
Small plays (xiaoxi)
Determines the degree of seriousness in the dramatic treatment

15. Staging cont’d All actors are proficient in: Individual skills (gong)
Singing (chong)
Speech (nian)
Acting and Movement (zuo)
Martial Arts and Acrobatics (da)

16. Staging cont’d
Parts are played by a person who is special only at the one part desired
A person may spend their whole life only doing one thing in every play
Types of roles:
Male (sheng)
Female (dan)

17. Staging cont’d Roles of male and female broke down even more
Male roles (sheng):
Old man (lao sheng)
Young man (xiao sheng)
Warrior (wu sheng)
Painted face ( always a man) (Jing)

18. Staging cont’d Female Roles: Quiet and Gentle (quing yi)
Vivacious and dissolute ( hua dan)
Old women (lao dan)
Warrior Princess (wu dan)
Clown characters (male or female) – white painted face (chou)

19. Staging cont’d Costuming is according to time honored conventions
Actors both sexes wear multilayered robes patterned with multi-bold colors
Some even wear headresses

20. Staging cont’d What certain colors mean: Bright yellow = emperors
Apricot = foreign rulers
White = generals
Bronze and bean paste = old officals

21. Theatre in Asia
Indian, Chinese, and Japanese drama are the most noticed in Western Theatre
Never spoken, but danced, chanted, mimed, and sung
More concerned with performing arts than dialogue
Dance, song, mime, gesture, acrobatics, puppetry, music, sound, costume, and makeup

22. Chinese Opera: Xiqu Sung more than spoken Xiqu means tuneful-theatre
We translate it as Chinese Opera
Xiqu’s Origins
Zaju- “various plays”

23. Xiqu’s Origins Zaju- “various plays” Kunqu
First form appeared in Song dynasty
Comedic music-dance-drama
Kunqu
Appeared in Ming dynasty
Poetic and aristocratic opera

24. Xiqu’s Origins “Clapper Opera” Jingju
Characterized by rhythmic beating of drumsticks on a hardwood block
Jingju
a.k.a. Beijing Opera
Most famous today
Singing, music, and acrobatics and martial arts

25. Staging of Xiqu First, performed outdoors, on temporary stages
Later moved into tea gardens and restaurants
Today it is in international–style Chinese theatre
Informal
Free to talk, eat, and move during perfomances

26. Staging of Xiqu
Based on well-known stories from Chinese history or myth
Actors must be proficient in
Singing, speech, acting , and movement, and martial arts and acrobatics

27. Theatre in Japan

28. Two Main Theatre Forms Nō
Kabuki

29. Nō Japans most revered and cerebral theatre
Oldest continuously performed drama in world
Almost always portrays supernatural events and characters

30. Nō characters: Shite All plays focus on a single character
Shite (doer)
Shite is usually gods, ghosts, women, animals, or warriors
Shite character always has a mask

31. Nō characters: Waki Waki character also used
Waki is a secondary character
Interrogates, prompts, and challenges shite
Always represents a living male
Usually ministers, commoners, or priests

32. Nō actors Always male Train for only one role type
Normally perform this role for their career

33. Nō stage Highly polished Japanese cypress flooring
Earthenware jugs supporting floor resonate with foot stompings
Hashigakari – bridgelike runway providing access to stage right, characteristic of style
Ornate, curved roof covers stage

34. Nō overall
Never been a mass entertainment, mostly produced for enthusiasts
In Japan however, number of Nō supporters growing
Remains a national pastime
Sublime mystery and serenity is reflective of Buddhist and Shinto values

35. Kabuki Created during the Edo Era
Themes consisted of conflicts of humanity and the feudalistic system

36. Kabuki Origins/History
Invented by Izumo Okuni around 1600
Started as an all women ensemble
In 1629 the Government banned women from the stage because the behavior was against morals
Catamites (boy prostitutes) were hired to play the roles

37. Kabuki Origins/History Cont.
In 1652 the government outlawed the boy performers as well
Adult males became the leads in the plays
Still all male ensemble to this day
Kabuki became more sober and dramatic as a result

38. Kabuki Plays Most fall into 3 categories History plays (jidaimono)
Dramatize political events
Domestic plays (sewamono)
Deal with affairs of townspeople, merchants or lovers
Dance dramas (shosagoto)
Among most popular deal with spirits and animals

39. Kabuki Theatres Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo Minami-za theatre in Kyoto
Shinkabuki-za theatre in Osaka

40. Kabuki Scenery Stage sets 2 or 3 stories high Revolving stages
Rolling stage wagons provide 3-D background

41. Kabuki Music Music room called the Geza
Orchestra
Chief instrument is samisen banjo like 3-string instrument
Almost always continuous music and sound effects from the Geza

42. Kabuki Actor Training Train for much of life
Actors work up from small parts to larger ones
People say actor doesn’t develop Kabuki face until their 50’s