Asian Theatre Traditions
Asian theatre traditions encompass the classical and popular performance forms of South, Southeast, and East Asia—from Sanskrit drama and the dance-dramas of India to Japanese Noh and Kabuki and Chinese opera.
Definition
The study of the classical and popular theatre and performance traditions of South, Southeast, and East Asia.
Scope
This topic surveys major Asian theatre forms: classical Sanskrit drama and the regional traditions of India such as Kathakali; the Japanese forms of Noh, Kyogen, Bunraku puppet theatre, and Kabuki; Chinese xiqu, including Beijing opera; and the shadow puppetry, dance-drama, and masked forms of Southeast Asia. It attends to their integration of text, music, dance, and codified convention, and to the theoretical writings, such as Zeami's treatises and the Natyashastra tradition, that accompany them.
Core questions
- What are the major classical theatre forms of Asia?
- How do these forms integrate text, music, dance, and codified convention?
- What aesthetic theories underpin traditions such as Noh and Sanskrit drama?
- How have Asian forms been transmitted, preserved, and transformed?
Key concepts
- Sanskrit drama and rasa
- Noh and Kabuki
- Bunraku
- Beijing opera (xiqu)
- yugen
- dance-drama
Key theories
- Zeami's aesthetics of Noh
- The treatises of Zeami Motokiyo, which articulate the aesthetic and training principles of Noh, including the cultivation of yugen, or subtle profound grace, and the actor's lifelong development.
- Comparative study of Asian forms
- James Brandon's framework for surveying Asia's theatre traditions, emphasizing their characteristic fusion of acting, music, and dance and their highly codified performance conventions.
History
Asian theatre traditions span more than two millennia, from the classical Sanskrit drama codified in the Natyashastra and the regional Indian forms, through the medieval flowering of Noh and Kyogen and the later popular Kabuki and Bunraku in Japan, to the consolidation of regional Chinese opera and the dance-dramas and puppet theatres of Southeast Asia, sustained by lineages of transmission and, more recently, by preservation and reinvention.
Debates
- Tradition and authenticity
- Scholars and practitioners debate how strictly classical forms should preserve inherited conventions versus adapting to modern audiences and conditions without losing their identity.
Key figures
- Zeami Motokiyo
- James R. Brandon
- Phillip B. Zarrilli
Related topics
Seminal works
- brandon1993
- zeami1984
- richmond1990
Frequently asked questions
- What is Noh theatre?
- Noh is a classical Japanese theatre form combining stylized dance, chant, masks, and music, refined from the fourteenth century and theorized by Zeami around the ideal of yugen, a restrained, profound beauty.
- What is the Natyashastra?
- The Natyashastra is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on dramatic theory and performance, foundational to Indian theatre and the source of the influential rasa theory of aesthetic emotion.