Part V:

A performance in the making.

With the intensive, continual training a noh performer receives, he is capable of performing almost any play on a day's notice. This is rarely necessary however. More commonly the actor performing the main role (shite) knows that he will do a certain play six months to a year in advance of the performance. Once the date is set the play is always in mind, his mental vision of it slowly evolving as he makes practical preparations for the performance (Tsumura 1844:109). The shite is generally responsible for choosing the other performers and for selecting the stage effects: the masks and costumes he and the tsure will wear...In effect, the shite takes the role of producer, director, costumer, and set designer, although each of these roles is extremely limited compared to its modern western counterpart because the actor is guided by established traditions for all aspects of the performance.

The choice of performers depends on the occasion of the performance as well as on the producing actor's interpretation of the play. For the regular monthly performances (teiki no) each actor in the group plays the shite role at least once a year and participates in most of the other performances in a supporting role: tsure, head of chorus, chorus member, or stage attendant. Each senior professional will also put one or more private performances a year, arranging for everything himself, paying every other person who participates, and taking the box office proceeds or losses as they come. For such private performances the choice of supporting performers is both freer and more carefully considered than for the monthly performances, and fees paid to the performers are also greater. Noh performances given in commemoration of special events, the anniversary of one's father's death, for example, are considered especially sacrosanct, and for them extra care is given to making each selection as perfect as possible by gathering respected masters. Tickets are twice the normal price; so is the cost to the producing performer. Usually difficult or celebratory pieces are chosen (i.e. Dojoji, Shakkyo, Obasute), so that much is also demanded of the performers...

Although the financial framework of a performance does much to dictate the age and proficiency of the invited performers, the actor producing a play also attempts to choose performers whom he feels will support and enrich his particular interpretation of the play...Among the supporting actors, his most careful consideration will be given to selecting the leader of the chorus, who has the main responsibility for tying the musical fiber of the play together, particularly during dramatic highlights where the main actor is dancing to the chanting. A good chorus lies at the core of a good play...

Since noh is performed without sets and with few props, the costumes and masks are major vehicles for creating visual atmosphere. The mask embodies the personality of the character and must be chosen with special care. Often this is the starting point for an actor's decisions about his interpretation for a specific performance. In some cases tradition allows for a choice of several similar but distinct types of masks, but often the actor is restricted to selecting from among several artists' renditions of masks bearing the same name and expressing essentially the same personality. The distinctions between one and another are only in subtle nuances which reflect the art and sensitivity of the carver. The actor will choose a mask not only for the appropriateness of its expression and its ability to come alive on stage, but also for its level of "dignity", making sure that the mask's sophistication is in line with his own ability. An inexperienced actor would not dream of wearing a highly esteemed, old mask. As Kanze Hisao has explained: "During a performance, the actor and the mask are in a state of confrontation, working to create art in a constant struggle to subjugate each other. It is for this reason that the true value of a superior mask is brought to its full realization only when it is worn by a superior actor" (1984: 71-72).

The costume not only creates atmosphere through its colour combinations and designs, but also clearly indicates the social status, profession, and dignity of the character. The audience is trained in reading both costume and masks for interpretation. Although appropriateness is the most important criterion for a costume, rarity is also valued. Actors like to store up their own unusual costume pieces for special performances, but fe can afford the expense. Most actors are largely dependent on the general store of costumes and masks...

The performance day

A modern noh program continues for around five hours and includes a number of plays and shorter pieces. The length of a program has been gradually reduced. In medieval Japan it appears to have taken the better part of a day; by pre-modern times a formal program consisted of the play Okina, five noh plays and four comic kyogen plays. This formal program is still presented a few times a year and takes about ten hours. Regular performances are now usually held on Saturday, Sunday or holiday afternoons and rarely include more than three noh plays plus one or two kyogen, and sung or danced recital pieces. In some cities, Osaka for example, short evening performances centering around one such noh play are gaining popularity. The National Noh theatre in Tokyo also schedules single plays...

From the time they (performers) start packing the costumes and instruments to take to the theatre, they begin to concentrate on their duties for the day. In one day most performers will appear on stage more than once. An actor may play the shite in one play and sing in the chorus in another, or he may serve as stage attendant in one play, perform a short dance without costumes between plays, and sing in the chorus in yet another play...

Some twenty or thirty minutes before a play is to begin the shite, clad in white, padded underwear, appears in his special dressing room. Although this actor has been in charge of all the arrangements before the performance day, once he is ready to be costumed, he need no longer be concerned with anything except his own role. The senior stage attendant takes over all other responsibilities. He is in charge of dressing the shite, draping and tying each layer of garment according to tradition. The actor has only to stand and occasionally comment on whether a knot is pulled tightly enough. In the final stage of dressing, he goes to an area just outside the curtain, where, seated before a large mirror, he salutes the mask, and then holds it in place to his face. Once it is secured, he sits and waits, concentrating on his image in the mirror until he is lead by the stage attendant to the curtain at the end of the bridge. At the moment he wishes the curtain to be raised, he grunts the word maku (curtain), indicating by his intonation the manner in which he wants it lifted. A quiet prolonged grunt sounding a bit like "moo" is an order for a slow, smooth lifting of the curtain, while a sharp, clipped rendition demands a swift, sharp pulling back of the curtain.

The shite is never the first performer on the stage, and usually enters only after supporting actors have played a brief scene or two. The preparation of other performers is a ritualization of necessary actions. Waki and kyogen actors help each other dress in their appointed rooms. The musicians must prepare their instruments; all the drums must be assembled, and the hip drum must be dried over a charcoal fire for over an hour. Just before each play begins the instrumentalists gather behind the curtain and play a brief, formalized warm-up (oshirabe). This is an opportunity to make sure the timbre of the instruments is correct and also a notification to the audience that the play is about to begin. The passage played for the warm-up is fixed and is the same passage the student plays before each lesson, indicating again the lack of distinction between practice and performance. Once the brief warm-up is over, the instrumentalists line up to go down the bridge and take their places in the extreme upstage area. As each instrumentalist passes by the curtain which has been half pulled aside for him, he puts on his stage "mask": his eyes are fixed straight ahead and his features loose all expression except concentration. The performance has begun.

At the end of the play, the shite is usually the first actor to leave, although his exit is normally preceded by the exit of the stage attendants through the small door at upstage left. The attendants remove the shite's mask and wipe the sweat from his face…As each comes off stage he bows to the shite and takes his place till they are all seated in the area. The members of the group thank each other with set words and a bow, then disperse. This final greeting is an integral part of the etiquette of the play and expresses the mutual interdependence of all on stage. (A similar expression of thanks is performed after lessons. Even a father teaching his six-year-old son insists on formal thanks after every lesson.) After this exchange each person is free to leave if his duties for the day are over. Occasionally the entire troupe of performers is invited to a party after the performance. This tends to center on eating and small talk, though in some groups the opportunity is used for more organized mutual critique.