Question and Answer

 Is there a play in which the audience takes a part?

For most Noh plays, spectators watch the actions of the characters from the auditorium as if they were in another world. It is rare for the actors to consider those watching as participating in the play, but in the piece "Hyakuman" the audience is an important stage element.

Hyakuman, the title role, is a master of kusemai (a Japanese medieval dance). She has become mentally unbalanced after being separated from her son. Hyakuman appears before a large crowd of people assembled at Saga Seiryō-ji Temple for a large-scale Buddhist prayer event. Saying the prayer by the man in front of the temple is no good, she chants her own prayer. Before long, while dancing to tell the story of her separation from her son, she becomes frantic and runs around the crowd to try and find her missing boy. The audience in the theatre become the people at the temple watching her desperate frenzy. It is said that thousands of people were at the temple for the prayer event. Imagine a large crowd of people filling the entire surrounding area, and you will feel a world of Noh that extends beyond the stage.

(Mar. 29, 2010)

Question 77 | Question 79

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• Question 149Was there a Noh stage in Edo Castle?
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• Question 87Are there any solo performances by Noh musicians?
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• Question 80What kind of place is the setting for Utou?
• Question 79Is an ad lib a result of the performance?
• Question 78Is there a play in which the audience takes a part?
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• Question 76What is the voice from behind the curtain?
• Question 75How many plays are performed?
• Question 74Do actors always change their costumes at the same moment?
• Question 73Why do musicians call out?
• Question 72What are the basic sounds of the small tabor?
• Question 71Is a drum always involved in the music?
• Question 70How much preparation time is needed for the large tabor?
• Question 69How many times does the call bell ring?
• Question 68What is the basic tone in Noh music?
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• Question 35Is there any special technique in making female masks?
• Question 34How do you operate the entrance curtain?
• Question 33Do Zeami’s manuscripts exist today?
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• Question 31When did kagami-ita, the symbol of the Noh theatre, first appear?
• Question 30In what period did books of Noh chants become popular publications?
• Question 29Is Takigi-noh performed even if it rains?
• Question 28What is Hakama-noh?
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• Question 24Is there any special aspect in a Noh actor's folding fan?
• Question 23Do actors ever fall from the stage?
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• Question 19Is it true that Noh music does not have definite tonality?
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