Posts by Current Residents of Nagasaki Prefecture

Free Noh Performance at Shimabara Castle!

04Sep 2017 Kai

Held with the backdrop of Shimabara castle, this Noh performance is one of the most popular events in the prefecture.

“In the Noh Theater, many different arts -poetry, music, dance and mime- converge at a level that does justice to all. The Noh Theater makes maximum demands on the audience. The texts are difficult and the relatively scant mimetic elements contribute more to establishing the inner tensions of the characters than to clarifying the words or actions. Some plays i…ndeed are so exceedingly slow-moving as to lull a sizable part of the audience to sleep. But precisely because it takes this risk Noh succeeds in its unique domain.” ~ 20 plays of the NŌ Theater

Shimabara castle Noh performance

Time: 2017/10/14(Sat) 16:00 Opening
17:00 Starting
20:00 Closing

Free

Place: In front of Shimabara castle

Part Ι: Shimabara Kyogen Performance
-Shizen Shimabara Kids Kyogen

Shinto ritual : A ritual heating first lighting

Part II: Noh Performance
– Kanze style Noh dance in plain clothes
“Well crib” Kanze Yoshimasa
“Yamori” Kanze Atsuo
-Izumi style Kyogen
“Springwater” Nomura Manroku
-Kanze Style Noh play
“Kumasaka” Nomura Masaki

What is a Noh?
Noh drama is the oldest surviving form of Japanese theater. It combines music, dance, and acting to communicate Buddhist themes. Often the plot of a Noh play recreates famous scenes from well-known works of Japanese literature such as The Tale of Genji or The Tale of the Heike.

What is Kyogen?
Kyogen is a form of traditional Japanese theater that developed as a sort of intermission and comic relief between the solemn noh acts. The kyogen is very short, so costumes, masks, and props are simple and minimal.

Recent Entry

Tags