Noh and Kyogen
Noh:
is a kind of symbolic drama colored with the graceful aesthetic effect of quiet elegance
subjects are taken from history or classical literature
plays are structured around song and dance
themes are more concerned with human destiny that with events
In Noh mostly all actors are wearing a mask
There are about 240 plays in the current repertoire of Noh
Kyogen:
is a theatre of laughter that is based upon auspicious words, satire, and humor
is a dialogue-drama, a drama of story-telling that places great importance on words
uses the everyday life of the common people or folk tales as main subject, and realistically depicts characters
There are about 260 plays in the current Kyogen repertoire
Types of Noh plays
Noh plays can be divided into two types: genzai no (realistic Noh) and mugen no (fantasy Noh).
In realistic Noh:
the main character is someone actually living in this world
the story proceeds according to real time
the main theme is the depiction of the inner feelings of a character placed in a dramatic situation
the drama develops through a basically spoken dialogue
In fantasy Noh:
the main character is a god, demon, or ghost someone who transcends this ordinary world
plays are based upon the gentle, lyrical beauty
the scripts are mostly based upon themes from classical literature
main character performs a dance that contains almost no realistic movements or imitative expressions
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