Medieval Vocabulary Flashcards
What does Khayal Al-Zill mean? (shadow puppetry)
Shadows of fancy
Who is Rais al-khayal in Egyptian shadow puppetry?
Shadow master
What is the set, lighting, characters and props in shadow puppetry?
Set: Portable stages of wood and canvas, puppeteers on one side, audience on the other
¤ Lighting: Single candle or lantern flame
Between the puppets and the puppeteers
¤ Characters & Props: 12” puppets made of stretched camel-hidden Mounted on wooden rods Animals, birds, fish, rowing sailors, battles
How is shadow puppetry an allegory?
It is an allegory for the human existence (the master is god and humans are the puppets)
What are the actors, design elements, and audience of Noh theater?
Gesture, poetry, songs, dance. Influenced by Zen Buddhism
Actors: primarily male
Audience- Created after the rise of the merchant, Noh Theater is for higher class, (aristocrats and Samurai)
design elements- Roofed, pine tree painted onstage due to the original performance of Noh being done outside, the performers are masked. Performers use fans, the fans are manipulated to symbolize other objects.
Who is Zeami Motokiyo?
writer of “A Mirror held to the Flower”, actor, playwright and theorist.
What is Kabuki?
sensual dances and skits reversal of gender roles mocking samurai culture popular among ordinary city folk corrupting influence
Who is Izumo no Okuni?
The founder Kabuki
What are the Samurai worried about with Kabuki theater?
gathers together people
presents ironies and bad things about the status quo
makes fun of the upper classes
loss of control of the public
mixing of classes
people across classes falling in love with each other
Who is Hroswitha?
Hroswitha- A german canoness who wrote morality plays mostly satires.
What is Yugen in Noh theater?
Grace (the most important concept of Noh theater.)
In Bunraku, what is Ningyo buri?
a style of kabuki acting in which humans perform like bunraku puppets and their manipulators
