The document summarizes Asian and medieval theater traditions. It describes three great Asian theater traditions from India, China, and Japan that used acting, music, dance, and text. Specific forms discussed include Sanskrit drama, Kathakali, Tang variety plays, Yuan zaju dramas, Beijing Opera, Noh drama, Bunraku puppet theater, and Kabuki. It also summarizes the three main types of medieval European plays - mystery, miracle, and morality plays. Production methods like pageant wagons and outdoor stages are noted. The document concludes with details about the 14th century Japanese Noh play "Sotoba Komachi".

1. ASIAN AND
MEDIEVAL THEATER
Asia
Background: Asian Theater
Theater in India
Theater in China
Theater in Japan
Living History: Sotoba Komachi
Play Synopsis: Sotoba Komachi
The Middle Ages
Theater and Culture in the
Middle Ages
Medieval Drama: Mystery,
Miracle, and Morality Plays
Living History: Noak’s Ark
Medieval Theater Production

2. 3 Great Asian traditions
INDIAN CHINESE JAPANESE
○ Forms of theater- acting, mime, dancing,
music and text.

3. INDIAN
THEATER

4. Indian Theater
● Sanskrit Drama
○ Written in Sanskrit,the
language of the noble
classes and performed in
court circles.
○ The Natyasastra (200
B.C- A.D 200)
■ The best known work
of criticism

5. Later Indian Drama
○ Kathakali
■ Dramatic form found in
Southwestern India
■ Stories of strong
passions, the furies of
gods, extraordinary
human beings
■ Clashes between good
and evil, good always

7. ● TANG PERIOD (A.D. 618-906)
○ Court Entertainment
■ Such as skits, pantomimes, juggling, singing and
dancing
○ Pear Garden
■ Actor’s training institute
○ Variety Plays
■ Traveling troupes, shadow puppets
Chinese Theater

8. Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
● Well known in the west through Marco Polo
● Mongol, Kublai Khan took power
● Began writing plays called Zaju
○ Composed texts suit rhythms of popular music
○ Protagonist sang all the music
○ Topics chosen ranged from love and romance to
religion, history, and even crimes and lawsuits.
● The Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang Shifu
○ The most famous of the plays(survived)
○ Dramas chronicle the trials of 2 lovers

9. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
● Chinese emperor
○ Writing only for the
elite
● Lute Song by Gao Ming
○ One of the best-known
plays
Peking (Beijing Opera)
● Developed in China in the 9th century
● Popular entertainment filled
with song,dance and acrobatics.

10. Peking Opera
● Also called by Chinese names,
jingju and xiqu.
● Theater Space
○ Modern dinner theater
● Stresses Symbolism
The character Sun Wukong at
the Peking opera from Journey
to the West

11. Japanese Theater

12. Japanese Theater (15th Century AC)
● Developed a religion called Shinto (“Way of the
Gods”)
○ Bound to nature and spirit worship
● Shinto and Buddhism had a strong influence
Noh Drama
● A stylized theater for the upper classes
● Directed by actor Kan’ami (1333-1384)
○ Whose son Zeami Motokiyo
■ Seen by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
● Based from literary or historical sources.
○ A famous novel, Lady Murasaki’s The tale of Genji

13. Noh Drama
● SOTOBA KOMACHI
○ Based on a fable
○ Written by Kan’ami and
revised by his son Zeami
○ “Sotoba on the Stupa”
○ The stage has a bridge, called
a hashigakari
● Mystical: demons and ghosts

14. Bunraku: Puppet Theater
● Popular form in Japan in the 1600s
● Featuring musicians and chanter
○ Who tells the story and creates
the voices of all the characters
● ⅔ of human size and always dressed
in black who move the puppet’s head,
arms, and body.
● Puppeteer’s black outfit is a convention
● CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON
○ The best of the writers for Bunraku
● Historical plays and domestic dramas
Dealing with life in his own day

15. Kabuki
● According to Legend, Japanese
kabuki was developed around
1600 by a woman named Okuni.
● Today, all roles are performed by
men
● Costumes,makeup and stage
gestures
○ Elegant
○ colorful

16. SOTOBA KOMACHI (14th century)
● Based on a fable
● A man named Shii-no-Shosho falls deeply in love
with Ono-no-Komachi who was once a famous
courtesan
● Stage movements are formal and ritualistic, such as
ballet.

17. THE MIDDLE AGES
Dark Ages 500 A.D to 1500 A.D

18. 3 types of Plays
● Mystery or Cycle Plays
○ Dramatized a series of
biblical events
● Miracle Plays
○ Dramatized the lives of
the saints
● Morality Plays
○ Plays such as Everyman
○ Used religious characters
and religious themes to teach
a moral lesson

19. The Second Shepherd’s Play
● The best-known mystery play produced in
England (14th Century)
2 Major Dramatic structures of Western
Theater
● Climactic
● Episodic

20. NOAH’S ARK

21. Medieval Theater Production
● Pageant Wagons
○ Could be rolled into a town or field
nearby
○ The wagon-served as a stage, contained
scenery, and had a backstage area
○ At the top is a model of a pageant
wagon in a town square.
○ Only men performed in England

22. OUTDOOR STAGES AT VALENCIENNES
A popular form of medieval staging, esp on
the European continent.

23. The end…..