East & SouthEast Asian Theatre Flashcards
Pear Orchard Conservatory
Tang Dynasty; trained men & women for any role
baixi
court and public festivals with mimes, juggling, acrobats, magicians, singers, & martial arts.
Puppet Theatre
puppets on long poles, originally meant for royalty
Shadow Plays
puppets behind lit screens acted out scenes
Zaju drama
4 act sketches & music with dance and comedy.
Nanxi plays
Similar to commedia dell’arte, used folk music and stock characters in up to 50 acts.
Chinese Opera
Storytelling, song, acrobatics, puppetry, and mime often involving a jester mocking corrupt court officials.
Peking Opera
AKA Beijing Opera; highly structured performances in one of two genres: civil or martial. Music was very important, and it used singing, speaking, dancing, acrobatics, and martial arts.
Civil plays
emotions & relationships between characters
Martial Plays
action oriented with acrobatics and martial arts.
4 Character Types of Peking Opera
- sheng : primary male, usually heroic and admirable
- dan: roles for women: mama, maid, warrior
- jing: male role, painted face, forceful; sometimes supernatural with elaborate costumes and mask-like face paint
- chou: secondary character; a clown; improv, very little singing.
Kabuki Dance
Japanese dance developed by prostitutes to entertain the working class. Eventually banned from any performers except adult men, as it remains today.
Onnagata
In Kabuki, a man in a female role; highly respected.
3Types of Kabuki
jidai-mono: historical, mostly feudal, involving samurai
sewa-mono: domestic, stories from the community; like a news performance
shosagoto: dance, mostly for display of technique and skill
Noh Theatre
Japan’s oldest form of theatre, a highly choreographed production featuring intense drama with supernatural elements paired with comedic acts for a breather.
Butoh
A post WWII avante garde dance form focusing on primal themes, raw emotion, and grotesque movements
Bharata Muni
Indian theatre based on the Natyahastra and the belief that theater comes from the gods
The Natyashastra
36 books; a theory of theatre based on style & motion, not psychology
Natakas plays
historical with emphasis on gods, demons, & royalty, ending in a resolution of the cosmic order
Prakarana plays
invented stories featuring regular people and their lives
Rasa
in Indian art forms, a positive feeling gained by the audience
Kalidasa
the “Indian Shakespeare”
Bhasa
oldest dramatist to give us complete plays
Traditional Indian Period
written in regional languages and based on oral traditions; improv and pastoral themes