[Toraerie] Japanese theater/folktales info

[Gudrun Skogsdottir]

Hello Lady Nuala,

Gudrun here, with information on Japanese theater and a folktale.

Our event, Otsukimi (Moon Viewing) (website: www.tc.umn.edu/~sca/tsuki.html),
is set in the Sengoku or Warring States period, 1467-1573, "a time of social
upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict"
(wikipedia, "Sengoku period"). Two period drama styles were Noh and Kyougen.

Noh is slow, with actors in masks, with plays typically performed in five
"acts". Kyougen is a comic interlude perfomed between the "acts" of Noh
plays or on its own. (Kabuki and Bunraku theaters are post-period.)

Brief summary of Noh and Kyogen:
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/english.html

Kyogen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyogen
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/kyougen_plays.html
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/kyougen_mask.html
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/kyougen_costume.html
http://www.iar.ubc.ca/centres/cjr/archive/yoj/kyogen.html (two plays)

Nice pictoral timeline of theater in Japan:
http://www.arlymasks.com/japanese_history_timeline.htm

Picture of noh-kyogen stage:
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/stage/stage_s.html

Video clips of Noh & Kyogen:
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/movie.html


You could also do a staging of a Japanese folktale, in particular the Tale
of the Bamboo Cutter, which has reference to the moon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Bamboo_Cutter
http://www.stmoroky.com/reviews/books/bamboo.htm
http://www.kodansha-intl.com/books/html/en/9784770023292.html
http://www.topics-mag.com/edition16/looks-folktale-jp-bamboo.htm

Kids' video of the tale:
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/folk/kaguya/index.html

I have a translation of it in a book of Classical Japanese Literature from a
class I took, with people talking and everything, and I will dig it out and
send you photocopies of it if you wish. It's a very good story. I strongly
recommend it.

Hope that's good to get you started. Let me know if you have questions.

~ Gudrun Skogsdottir
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