Japn 314 Noh Theatre: Some Definitions:

1. Nô 能　literally means talent, skill, or accomplishment. It is very somber and serious, so, it is not the same as ordinary or “mere entertainment."

Rather, it is a serious entertainment form containing 3 main elements: mimicry, song and dance.

2. Another Take:

Nô is the poetic crystallization of a privileged moment in the life of the hero, detached from its spatio-temporal context and projected into a dream universe evoked and revealed by means of a witness known as the waki.

Therefore, it is a celebration of emotion, a pure aesthetic experience.

3. Nô can also be seen as a dramatic poem concerned with remote or supernatural events, performed by a dancer, often masked, who shares the stage with lesser personages and a chorus the singing and declamation of poetry.

 

4. This reminds us that Nô is a highly stylized, formal, and very restrained form of Theatre. It is also very minimalist. Hence the plain, unadorned, polished pine wood stage and the extreme economy of movement, even down to the bare minimum of a gesture that is suggestive of what we are expected to see. In that sense, we have top participate in creating the illusion or vision that is called for.

5. Also, Nô deals with that swhich is hidden, with the profound, the sad and the beautiful. A key or transformative moment.

We use the Term Yûgen (幽玄) to describe this notion that the kind of beauty which is half hidden, or that is only suggested or hinted at, is more powerful than a kind of beauty or truth that is spelled out explicitly. It's the art of suggestion as opposed to hitting people over the head with a mallet!

 

6. So, we can say that Nô deals with what is hidden, that which is Deep or Profound, and this often entails juxtaposing the sad or forlorn with the beautiful.

 

7. When this is done right, it evokes a dream state in which we can see and experience deep religious and philosophical truths. So, a Noh performance has more in common with a solemn Catholic High Mass than it does with a Broadway show! Or some other form of "mere entertainment." The purposed of Non is npt just to entertain. It is much deeper than that!

 

8. Because of all this Nô comes off as solemn, somber, other worldly, even spooky, with music consisting of drums, a high-pitched flute, and rhythmic, monotonous chanting that helps "lull" us into a highly suggestible state. Possibly hypnotic.

 

9. And, a reminder, Nô is rooted in the idea of Yûgen (幽玄) which refers to the beauty or truth which is only half-revealed. This is the most profound variety of truth.

 

10. A typical Nô play is short and features little dialogue: movement and music are more important to telling the story. Stories come from classical literature and depict both true and legendary events, often featuring mythical beings. The Tale of Genji, the world’s first fictional novel about a man torn between imperial and common life, and The Tale of the Heike, an account of an epic twelfth-century war, are two popular sources. The settings tend to be between the 12th and 16th centuries, the period during which Nô was formulated and perfected. Only occasionally are new Nô plays written and performed. (https://japanobjects.com/features/noh)