The Theatre of Asia
By: Seth Wilmes,
Anjuli Mostek,
Kasey Laber,
Suzanne Shepherd,
Michael Bissen,
and John France
Theatre of Asia
3 Main Sections
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India
China
Japan
Theatre in Asia
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Indian, Chinese, and Japanese drama are the
most noticed in Western Theatre
Never just spoken, but danced, chanted,
mimed, and sung
More concerned with performing arts than
dialogue
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Dance, song, mime, gesture, acrobatics, puppetry,
music, sound, costume, and makeup
The Drama of India
Started from the Middle East Roots
Based on Greek Texts
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Sanskrit Dance-Theatre
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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
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Praka- based on theme of love
Nataka- based on well-known heroic stories of
kings or sages
Sanskrit Dance-Theatre Continued
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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.
Kathakali
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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
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Ramayana
Mahabharata
Drama of China
Chinese Opera: Xiqu
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Sung more than spoken
Xiqu means tuneful-theatre
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We translate it as Chinese Opera
Xiqu’s Origins
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Zaju- “various plays”
Xiqu’s Origins
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Zaju- “various plays”
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First form appeared in Song dynasty
Comedic music-dance-drama
Kunqu
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Appeared in Ming dynasty
Poetic and aristocratic opera
Xiqu’s Origins
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“Clapper Opera”
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Characterized by rhythmic beating of drumsticks
on a hardwood block
Jingju
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a.k.a. Beijing Opera
Most famous today
Singing, music, and acrobatics and martial arts
Staging of Xiqu
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Xiqu is sceneryless, and presented in a wide
variety of surroundings
First, performed outdoors, on temporary stages
Later moved into tea gardens and restaurants
Today it is in international–style Chinese
theatre
Informal
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Free to talk, eat, and move during perfomances
Staging cont’d
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Plays are almost always anonymous
Based on well known stories from Chinese
history or myth.
All plays include both serious and comic
elements
Staging cont’d
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Serious and Comic not tragedy and comedy
Instead…
Civil plays (wenxi)=love, marriage, and
domestic justice
Martial plays (wuxi)=battles, banditry, and
armed rebellions.
Staging cont’d
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A second terminology seperates them into…
Great plays (daxi)
Small plays (xiaoxi)
Determines the degree of seriousness in the
dramatic treatment
Staging cont’d
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All actors are proficient in:
Individual skills (gong)
Singing (chong)
Speech (nian)
Acting and Movement (zuo)
Martial Arts and Acrobatics (da)
Staging cont’d
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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:
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Male (sheng)
Female (dan)
Staging cont’d
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Roles of male and female broke down even
more
Male roles (sheng):
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Old man (lao sheng)
Young man (xiao sheng)
Warrior (wu sheng)
Painted face ( always a man) (Jing)
Staging cont’d
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Female Roles:
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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)
Staging cont’d
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Costuming is according to time honored
conventions
Actors both sexes wear multilayered robes
patterned with multi-bold colors
Some even wear headresses
Staging cont’d
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What certain colors mean:
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Bright yellow = emperors
Apricot = foreign rulers
White = generals
Bronze and bean paste = old officals
Theatre in Japan
Two Main Theatre Forms
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Nō
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Kabuki
Nō
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Japans most revered and cerebral theatre
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Oldest continuously performed drama in world
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Almost always portrays supernatural events and
characters
Nō characters: Shite
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All plays focus on a single character
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Shite (doer)
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Shite is usually gods, ghosts, women, animals, or
warriors
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Shite character always has a mask
Nō characters: Waki
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Waki character also used
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Waki is a secondary character
Interrogates, prompts, and challenges shite
Always represents a living male
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Usually ministers, commoners, or priests
Nō actors
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Always male
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Train for only one role type
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Normally perform this role for their career
Nō stage
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Highly polished Japanese cypress flooring
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Earthenware jugs supporting floor resonate with
foot stompings
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Hashigakari – bridgelike runway providing access
to stage right, characteristic of style
Ornate, curved roof covers stage
Nō overall
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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
Kabuki
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Created during the Edo Era
Themes consisted of conflicts of humanity and
the feudalistic system
Kabuki Origins/History
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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
Kabuki Origins/History Cont.
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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
Kabuki Plays
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Most fall into 3 categories
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History plays (jidaimono)
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Domestic plays (sewamono)
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Dramatize political events
Deal with affairs of townspeople, merchants or lovers
Dance dramas (shosagoto)
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Among most popular deal with spirits and animals
Kabuki Theatres
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Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo
Minami-za theatre in Kyoto
Shinkabuki-za theatre in Osaka
Kabuki Scenery
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Stage sets 2 or 3 stories high
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Revolving stages
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Rolling stage wagons provide 3-D background
Kabuki Music
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Music room called the Geza
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Orchestra
Chief instrument is samisen banjo like 3-string
instrument
Almost always continuous music and sound
effects from the Geza
Kabuki Actor Training
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Train for much of life
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Actors work up from small parts to larger ones
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People say actor doesn’t develop Kabuki face
until their 50’s
An Example Play
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The Ribs and the Cover
By Hone-kawa
Form is of a Japanese Folk-Play, called
Kyōgen
These were short plays which are often farce.
Works Cited
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Sankanish, Shio. 1960. “The Ink-Smeared Lady.” Tokyo, Japan. Charles E. Tuttle
Company.
Brazell, Karen. 1998. “An Anthology of Plays Traditional Japanese Theater.”
New York. Columbia University Press.
Cohen, Robert. 2003. “Theatre, Sixth Ed.” Boston. McGraw-Hill.
Chinese Studies. Retrieved April 10, 2005.
http://www.chinsestudies.hawaii.edu/images/theatre_photos/yu_tangchun/clowns.jp
g.
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. April 10, 2005. http://www.andrespraefcke.de/carthalia/usa/images/usa_losangeles_chinese.jpg.
Chinese Theatre. April 10, 2005. http://www.ccamuseum.org/chinese_theatredrawing-web.JPG.
Chinese Theatre. April 10, 2005.
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~rhegel/chtheatre/concubine1.jpg
Chinese Theatre. April 10, 2005. http://parttimes.com/images/chinese_theatre.jpg