Noh and Kyôgen in the Contemporary World
Brandon, James R. (ed.), Nô and Kyôgen in the Contemporary World. Foreword by Ricardo D. Trimillos, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 1997. 249 pp., illus., cloth ISBN 0-8248-1810-5
By Arnoud Rauws
The eight essays collected in this book were originally presented at a conference held at the University of Hawai'i in 1989. Like the conference, the book is divided into three sections, each preceded by an introduction by the editor. The book also contains two interviews with Nomura Mansaku and Nomura Shirô, actors in Kyôgen and Noh, respectively.The first section, 'Values of Noh and Kyôgen in contemporary society', opens with an essay by Richard Emmert, who addresses the problem of how one can create new, non-traditional Noh performances without losing that which is essential to Noh. In order to define the essence of Noh, he makes the distinction between internal and external elements. In Noh, as in many Asian theatre traditions, the physicality of the performer is of primary importance. The very controlled movements of the actor, sustained by song and instrumental music, create a flow of energy that is basic to Noh. Emmert designates these elements internal. In contrast, he considers elements like masks, performance space, and literary-musical structure external components. It is by changing these external components, Emmert suggests, that Noh could expand in a new direction, as long as its internal elements are not compromised.
The next two contributions, by Arthur H. Thornhill III and Royall Tyler, are less directly concerned with the values of Noh in the present. Thornhill examines the meaning of the aesthetic concept of yûgen in the theoretical works of the Noh actor, Konparu Zenchiku (1405-1470?), compared to that in the treatises of his father-in-law, Zeami (1363?-1443), one of the founders of the Noh theatre. Thornhill argues that while Zeami's use of the term yûgen is more or less confined to describing an elegant, external kind of beauty, Zenchiku developed a theory in which yûgen is transposed from being a mere stage effect, to a spiritual quality of the performer. Royall Tyler tries to arrive at a new appreciation of the role played by the waki, or secondary character, in two of Zeami's Noh plays. The waki's lack of activity on stage has been a source of surprise and speculation. Tyler argues that by taking into account certain concepts of Tendai Buddhism, the waki's role, inactive as it may seem, becomes significant.
This does raise the question of whether the waki in Zeami's time was as silent as the one we see today on the Noh stage. Several Japanese scholars have suggested that up to the end of the first half of the 16th century the waki not only appeared on stage as a supporting actor, he used to act as the leader of the chorus. This shows how careful one should be in making assumptions based on modern performance practice only.
The second section 'Adaptation of Noh and Kyôgen to contemporary audiences', opens with an essay by Nagao Kazuo who points out the frequent misconception about what is really 'traditional' in Noh. Throughout history actors have tried to return to the essence of Noh. Their experiments have usually resulted in 'highly spiritual' theatre experiments or extremely slow performances, far removed from the actual historical Noh.
Tom Hare's essay also treats the phenomenon of change in Noh. He chooses not to discuss change from an historical point of view, but treats it as an artistic principle, operating in both plays and performances, and in the training of the actor.
Noh is generally equated with what is originally only one specific kind of Noh, the so-called 'dream Noh', a form that emphasizes the internal conflict of the main character. This tendency is also reflected in most of the contributions in this book. Setting the record straight, Dômoto Masaki correctly observes the fact that, in addition to these dance-like pieces, there are also a great number of plays about external conflicts between two parties with opposing interests. These plays develop dramatically not depending mainly on monologue like dream Noh, but on dialogue. They tend to be less favoured by both the public and the actors, and if staged at all, they are performed at a slow tempo using the abstract acting techniques that were originally devised for the dream Noh variant.
In the third section, 'Encounters with the West', J. Thomas Rimer describes Noh in terms of transcendentalism and ritual which, in my opinion, are words that tend to mystify rather than to explain its character. Rimer believes that 'Noh's transcendental prerogatives' no longer seem to be accessible to the general public. He concludes, surprisingly, that for Noh to appeal to a contemporary audience, adaptation is necessary, and sets out to describe the different strategies for using elements of Noh observed in three modern theatre productions.
Jonah Salz would call these productions either 'pidgins' or 'creoles'. Salz suggests that theatre theorists could expand their analysis of intercultural experiments by looking at them as processes 'paralleling all cultural contact'. He believes the model used by sociolinguists to describe the several stages in the development of long-term contact between speech communities is the most appropriate pattern for this parallel analysis. Salz applies this model to the process of interaction between Western theatre and traditional Noh and Kyôgen, in particular to the latter. He points out that interestingly 'the ambiguities and accidents that linguistic communication aims to avoid are precisely that which may be the highest value of the creole theatre experimenter.'
Finally, the interviews with Nomura Mansaku and Nomura Shirô, conducted by the editor, give a good insight into the attitude of two contemporary actors towards their traditional arts. Nomura Mansaku relates his experiences in theatre productions outside the tradition of Kyôgen, which have made him much more conscious about acting and about the interpretation of his own art. Nomura Shirô, on the other hand, does not seek inspiration outside Noh. Having taught overseas, both actors agree, that even when performed in English, Kyôgen and Noh can still maintain their original integrity.
:Arnoud Rauws is a Japanologist (Leiden University) currently specializing in classical Japanese theatre.