ASIAN ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE Radically different from Western theatre HOW IS ASIAN THEATRE DIFFERENT FROM WESTERN THEATRE Various Locations India China Japan three types United States Some Asian background Asia is largest continent 29 of Earth s land Asia has highest population of any continent 4 billion people over half of Earth s Asia has the highest and lowest places on Earth Mt Everest Nepal and the Dead Sea population Israel Jordan Asia has over 40 countries o Russia is part of Asia Some of Asia was once part of Persian Empire Performance Traditions Comparison WESTERN Dialogue and Speech What people say and do Linear Plot Not necessarily chronological although usually is Creates Reality Creates Realistic Illusions Uses Scenery and Settings Props furniture etc Usually something physical not symbolic Ex Noh theatre Japan big difference between arm movement with palm facing up as opposed to facing down EASTERN Gesture Sound Rhythm Usually little to no dialogue Lots of stylized movement Non Linear Events Transcends Reality Abandons Illusion Events do not happen in a linear away Skip around in time skip around in cause and effect Theatre meant to take us beyond our daily lives and how we usually live No desire to recreate reality including no illusion of reality Uses Platforms and Spaces No furniture Various platform levels big open space etc WHAT CHARACTERIZES INDIAN THEATRE Mahabharata c 250 o Similar to the Odyssey in Greece o Epic poem o VERY important Bharata 4th Century o NOT connected to the Mahabharata o Practiced theatre o Natyasastra Science of Theatre o And his 100 sons Function of theatre o Educate Entertain o Very religious A lot of Indian theatre is ritualistic Bharata s idea Rasa emotional flavor Somewhat like Aristotle s Poetics Inspired by Brahma the Indian god of Creation Passed to Bharata from the heavens Sacred text Written in Sanskrit meant to distract people from the pleasures of the flesh jealousy rage lust etc o Cooking metaphor a mix always has basic ingredients and what makes it different is various amounts of the ingredients or some special addition in a small amount similar to how the rasas functions o All indian plays will have these rasas Erotic Comic Furious Heroic Terrible Odious Marvelous Tranquility o The amounts of rasa alter the audience s experiences The first performance o Brahma vs the Demons No one in the theatre can be excluded good or evil The battle is not a battle a celebration because the demons transform they are not destroyed VIDEO CLIP Buddhist Ritual Masks represent good evil Stylized movements o Evil characters harass the crowd o Music for evil dances is harsh and striking o Buddha is represented by a deer mask Prays over a dao that represents the evil spirit of the human heart cuts it into pieces Buddha character much livelier a lot of spinning WHAT CHARACTERIZES CHINESE THEATRE Peking or Beijing Opera Video Clip o Almost dancing o Clanging sounds drums o Acrobatics o Flags o Good guys in yellow and make up facially expressive o Bad guys in green o Used various weapons stick hula hoop swords o Reminiscent of circus flipping jumping through hoops etc o Music speed increases movements become faster Conventions of Beijing Peking Opera o Color masks White treachery Black courage Red loyalty Gold gods Green demons No need to memorize just understand concept o Intense action Lots of acrobatics o Sound music and rhythm Drums clanging various Chinese instruments The Pear Garden 8th Century Spring Festival o In China actors are called Children of the Pear Garden like Thespians Mei Lan Fang Beijing Opera Master o Chosen at a young age o Traveled to Western countries to represent Beijing Opera o Very famous and Influential o Story about Bertolt Brecht So inspired by Bertolt Brecht that he created epic theatre o Story about WW2 Refused to perform while China and Japan were at war and is rumored to have influenced Chinese government Two major forms of Peking Opera o Wu hsi military plays Acrobatics fighting colors body movements and interesting things Rhythm guides actors o Wen hsi love plays Very philosophical and dramatized WHAT CHARACTERIZES JAPANESE THEATRE WHAT ARE THE INDIVIDUAL FORMS LIKE Noh Theatre Bunraku Theatre Kabuki Theatre Noh Theatre Accomplishment or Art Play o Oldest form of Japanese theatre 14th Century Goes back up to 60 generations o Zeami 1363 1443 teaching on Style and the Flower Flower metaphor Simplicity and harmony and beauty regeneration and growth etc Wrote 100 of the 240 remaining Noh theatre plays o Theatrical conventions and the stage The art of walking Very little use of scenery or props A lot of reliance on sound and rhythm Masks sound movement physicality VIDEO CLIP o Sounds drums and various percussion flutes a chorus of chanters o Simple masks o Very stylized walking to reflect characters o Movements of the head and arms reflect mood rather than the actor s face Bunraku Theatre o Puppet Theatre o Began as we know it today in 1734 although the original form existed far earlier o Actors and Training 3 puppeteers all dressed in black so they are supposed to be invisible theatrical convention One for the legs one for the left hand and the most experienced puppeteers controls right hand and head Each position requires 10 years Narrator musician Narrator must portray emotion through the voice o Puppets o Stage Comprised mostly of strings to make movements more fluid About 3 feet tall A platform elevated for the puppets puppeteers stand behind it o Chikamatsu Monzaemon 1653 1724 The Shakespeare of Japan VIDEO CLIP o Music often played on shamisen o Very stylized and focused movements of the puppets o Narrator does not actually use dialogue just vocalizes Kabuki Theatre o Most popular form and the youngest o 1603 Okuni begins public dance performances became so popular that it created a prostitution ring 1629 Women banned and replaced with young men 1652 young men banned replaced by middle aged men who plucked their foreheads Women still do not appear in Kabuki theatre all roles played by men o Conventions Stylized performances Dance and music Narrator The narrator is not as vital in Noh or Bunraku theatre Actors speak and dance o Chikamatsu Monzeamon 1653 1724 o Meant to entertain Elaborate events and special effects A lot of his techniques are integral to Kabuki and Bunraku theatre o Parts have jumped the pond and is used in various American theatre types VIDEO CLIP o Face painted to symbolize characters o