Japanese Theatre notes

history of japanese theatre

• wabisabi
• quintessential Japanese aesthetic 
• the art of finding beauty in imperfection and nature
• we need to accept the natural cycle of life
• wabi= way of life/spiritual path
• sabi= material objects art and literature 
• wabi=inward 
• sabi=objective
• wabi=philosophical construct
• sabi= aesthetic ideal 
• wabi=spacial events
• sabi= temporal events 

1853 japanese opened up to trade

end of the curtain 

Wabi sabi

modernism

Would see a box as a “bowl” Box would have natural materials Earthen, crude, less perfect Allow for a problem Even corrosion can make the expression richer Comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction Zen Buddhist “ Modern spoken drama in japan as in Asia was ultimately built on western models. In response to social, artistic, and cultural pressures, but also it was often reacting against western influence during its century long existence.” Should we modernize kabuki… Shin-kabuki=based on western theatre Shin-pa= borrowed western plots and made it Japanese Shingeki= making Japanese theatre as western as possible “no theatre” “ kyogehn” “

Would see a box as a metaphor Slick Well maintained Ambiguity and contradiction

1867= big time of crisis

shoguns were kicked out of power

1868-1912 rapid modernization 

samurai abolished

in this context modern japanese theatre was born 

the heart of modern theatre was tokyo 

ibsen was huge influence on china korea and japan

actors used to be disregarded

actors in modern japan became much more reconized

1872 realism and kabuki 

kabuki started to become more focused on characterization

Commedia Vs Talchum

COMMEDIA

TALCHUM

Over exaggeration of real life characters        Hierarchy         Satire          Masks        Distinct characters        Open to audience        Morphed time and place

A. Communal play Uniformity of performers and viewers Conversation between audience actors and musicians No barriers between stage and audience The play can be a conference for debating issues of life and trying to problem solve Preshow parade and post show dance Group dancing singing and scenes B. Freedom of time and space Variety of dramatic conflict No stage decoration necessary You can move freely from one scene to the next You can move freely from one time period to the next You can use a few gestures and lines and a few props as needed No narration needed for changing scenes or times or showing dramatic conflict C. Excellent devices for satire Deals with issues of society oppression and class domination Discrimination Male supremacy Unity of ideology and reality Elimination of social class distinctions Gender equality D. Mask E. Characterization

Commedia notes

commedia dellarte notes 

• italian 
• touched theatre around the world
• stock characters
• no scripts
• improvising
• plots only
• scenarios/stories that are divided scene by scene
• 16th century
• lazzi 
• linguistic games 
• actor has to be centred in theatre
• acrobatics
• ensemble
• le jeu is the idea of “play” in theatre
• driving force is not what to play but HOW it should be played 
• four principles for commedia actors
• stillness 
• awareness of your partners on stage
• communication with the audience as individuals 
• ability to express feelings and thought through your body
• energy risk momentum and joy 
• three essential qualities necessary 
• willingness tow work as team
• gift of being able to seize the moment of opportunity
• act with truth and sincerity
• no subtext in commedia
• even villains will be frank
• no ones trying to trick you
• the masks of commedia 
• allegorical characters of medieval drama
• seven deadly sins
• pride, envy, gluttony, lust, sloth, wrath, avarice
• ex.) pantalone = chicken
• Dottore=pig
• Harlequin=monkey and cat…lemur (opposite of pantalone) 
• Zanni= driven by sex and hunger. group of birds 
• innamorati = less animal like. beautifully dressed young lovers. do not use masks 
• columbina 
• fox
• high spirited 
• ballet like music
• capitano= peacock. braggart. 
• pulcinella 
• pedrolino
• scaramuccia 
• prankster
• señora 
• no mask
• forever 29 years old
• how to wear your mask
• don’t touch
• don’t be subtle
• lazzi
• comic interludes
• moments of humour
• grab between scenes
• foolish witty metaphorical
• stage business
• gromolat
• emotional babble speech
• recognised by the tone
• jibberish
• good improvisational study since it has not logic
• church did not ike it because they said u had to speak latin
• 7 main emotions
• can’t act the emotion but live that emotion

Korean t’alchum notes

• almost lost during japanese occupation 
• cho dong il translated talcum into english
• six characteristics of korean folk dance
• spiritual base in respect for nature and respect for freedom of expression
• embodiment of feelings of HAN (deep inner sentiment that is manifested as profound grief or sadness) and sinmyeong (artistic ecstasy or exhilaration that occurs at final dramatic moment when tears turn to laughter, darkness to light)
• self expression
• strongly improvisational 
• sinmyeong takes hours/days to build
• performances are held out in a madding
• each performance begins with intro to type of talcum
• satirize how hard life was for the lower classe
• masks vary depending on location
• masks are burned after used
• masks decorated with symbols 
• evil = pock marks=warts