This is a collection of the most important genres of Japanese performance—noh, kyogen, kabuki, and bamrili puppet theater—in one comprehensive, authoritative volume. Organized by genre, each section features a rich selection of representative plays and explorations into each theatrical style and is prefaced by an illustrative essay covering a wide range of subjects, from stage direction to musical accompaniment. With classic and new translations of more than thirty plays and scenes—along with Brazell's detailed, historically rich supplementary material and copious illustrations—no better anthology exists for students of this most fascinating and diverse dramatic tradition.
Price: $180.00
Pages: 464
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Series: Translations from the Asian Classics
Publication Date:
01 April 1998
Trim Size: 6.88 X 9.75 in
ISBN: 9780231108720
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Japanese, DRAMA / Asian / Japanese, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Asian / Japanese
A compact introduction, rich variety of fine translations of representative plays, detailed stage directions, and extensive photographs make this an ideal teacher's tool...This is not only a fine anthology, but the only anthology of its kind.
Karen Brazell is a professor in the department of East Asian Studies at Cornell University and is the winner of the National Book Award for her translation of The Confessions of Lady Nijo. She is also editor of Twelve Plays of the No and Kyogen Theaters, and coauthor, with Monica Bethe, of No as Performance and the three-volume Dance in the No Theater.
Part I. An Introduction to Traditional Japanese Theater
Japanese Theater: A Living Tradition
Historical Perspectives
General Characteristics
The Stages
Four Figures of the Thunder God: The Major Genres
Noh: Kamo
Kyogen: Thunderbolt
Kabuki: "Saint Narukami Scene"
Bunraku: "Mount Tenpai" and "Tumult in the Palace"
Part II. The Noh and Kyogen Theaters
Elements of Performance
Noh Plays
Atsumori, by by Zeami
Izutsu, by by Zeami
Miidera
Shunkan
Dok oki
Yamamba, by by Zeami
Kyogen Plays
Two Daimyo
Delicious Poison
Mushrooms
The Snail
Sickly Stomach
Kanoaka
Cicada
Other Traditions: Kowaka, by Kurokawa Noh, Mibu Kyogen
Kowaka verison of Atsumori
Part III. The Puppet and Kabuki Theaters
Elements of Performance
Plays from the Bunraku Puppet Theater
"The Beach at Hirado" and "The Bamboo Forest of a Thousand Languages, by " by Chikamatsu
Amijima, by by Chikamatsu
"Travel Scene" by Izumo II, by Shoraku, and Senryu
"Farmhouse Scene" from Chushingura
The Awaji Puppet Tradition
Sambaso
The Miracle of the Tsubosaka Kannon
Plays from the Kabuki Theater
"Shunkan: The Devil Island Scene" by Chikamatsu
"Suma Bay" by Senryu
Yotsuya Ghost Stories, Act Three
"The Hamamatsuya Scene"
Musumu Dojoji
