Today was the marathon of Noh. We sat in the theatre for a full program consisting of Okina, Yumi Yawata, Niwatori Muko (the kyogen play), Toboku, and Iwafune (only the second act). I accidentally missed the kyogen play because I thought we had reached the first intermission so I started eating lunch, but I think I was still able to get a good general sense of Noh.
Here is my honest assessment: I like Noh better than I like Western theatre. I know some of my peers will disagree with me on this issue, but allow me to explain why. Yes, Noh is long, and it’s inevitable that you’ll have pain in your buttocks by the third hour of sitting on a stiff theatre seat. However, unlike when I watch Western theatre, I was able to forget myself watching Noh.
I’m not someone who enjoys the theatre very much. The primary reason for this is that I tend not to like actors or not to be convinced by their acting. In my experience, actors tend to be a bit pretentious. I’m well aware that this does not apply to all actors. However, in Western theatre I have a hard time separating the actor as a human being from the character they play, and as a result I have a hard time finding their performances to be authentic. Again, I am not an actor, but I have had some experience with theatre, and I’ve seen a fair smattering of shows, and I can’t help but feel that the intonations and gesticulations, the personalities displayed in Western theatre, are overdone and stale for me at this point. Perhaps those who have seen Noh many times feel similarly about the careful dancing, or the vocalizations of the drummers before they whack their drums, but for me it was very refreshing.
None of the performers on the stage showed hesitation in their movements, or the slightest hint of self-consciousness. The actors, chorus, instrumentalists, and even the attendants acted purposefully. This denial of the ego, this lack of self-consciousness, was what impressed me the most. Noh is genuine, and the actors and instrumentalists have no problem making movements and sounds that someone like myself would hesitate to make on a stage. I could sense that the performers cared very much about the performance, which is why I was able to forget that I was sitting in the audience and just experience it.
I also expected that the bulky costumes of Noh would obstruct movement, but the billowing fabrics actually enhance every slight gesture by the actor. The costumes generally were gorgeous. As far as other miscellaneous comments go, I liked how fluidly the actors would flick their toes up as they glided across the floor.
After the Noh performance, some of us went to the more “downtown” part of Kyoto; we saw the Kyoto Tower and spent time exploring a mall trying to find a certain manga store (turns out the store had closed, but we had fun exploring anyway). It was very interesting for me to see that part of Kyoto, since the area where we’re staying is very much a blend of the traditional and the modern, but the area near the tower had no trace of the cultural tradition. Here you can find a shrine next to a McDonald’s. There you could find neon lights and tall buildings and young people roaming around. There were also many more foreigners in the downtown part of Kyoto than in the area around our hostel. I think I like the quieter sides of Kyoto more, but I’m glad that I saw the bustling part of the city at least once.
Tomorrow we get to participate in a Noh workshop and then explore Arashiyama. I’m considering trying a hot spring, especially to soothe my aching feet, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
