I'm so sorry I will not be with you on Wednesday for what I'm sure will be another wonderful presentation, but while you are meeting, I will be in my sister's back garden in Jerusalem for my niece's rehearsal dinner before celebrating her wedding on Friday in Jaffa. Good things always seem to happen at the same time. Shalom! Jacquie
President Constance rang the bell. The minutes were read and accepted. The treasurer reported that, having spent $139 on flowers for Helen Barolini’s funeral, we are still quite flush with $270.20.
Diana suggested that we invite Helen’s daughters, Niki and Linda, to our summer meeting when we will discuss Helen’s novel, Umbertina. All agreed this was an excellent plan.
Constance said that she will speak to Debbie at the Library about getting Helen’s books for the library.
The venue for our next meeting on May 17th , originally scheduled for Jacquie’s, remains up in the air. Laura has volunteered to take the minutes in Christine’s absence.
A question about the interpretation of the theme for the upcoming season was quickly resolved. As ever, it was suggested that the theme could be variously interpreted according to whatever you would like to do.
In another first for the Literature Club, Laura then introduced us to Noh Theatre with a start with a YouTube excerpt from the Noh play Kuroduka. It was indeed very helpful to see - and hear – real Noh actors; otherwise, it might have been difficult to imagine just how slow are their movements, and just how loud are their words.
Then Laura took us back in time to the 1990s when, thanks to a well-spent grant from the NEA, Laura and another teacher at Hastings High School went to Japan to study Noh drama.
So, to begin our education. No, Noh is not realistic theatre. Yes, Noh does lend itself to occasional sophomoric wordplay.
Upon entering the theatre, the audience sees the porch of a small house. There are four columns on the stage, supporting a tile roof. Stage left there is a walkway onto the stage for the actors. Stage right there sits the chorus. Upstage are musicians, and behind them a painting of a pine tree, a symbol of longevity.
The play opens with a character walking, very slowly, on to the stage and explaining who he is and where he is going.
Noh theatre developed in the 1200s, influenced by Buddhism coming from China as well as traditional Yamato dances. During the Muromachi period, 1336 to 1573, Noh theatre took shape. In particular, the Shogun Yoshimitsu and two actors, father and son Zen priests, reworked the form into the Noh theatre we still see. Their texts and rules established Noh as a refined art for the nobility, a reflection of the culture.
There are five types of Noh drama:
1 the god play
2 the warrior play
3 play with a female protagonist
4 the miscellaneous and madwoman play
5 the demon play
A typical presentation includes three Noh plays, each separated by a kyogen, a lighthearted comedy sketch. Spectators will often bring scripts with them so that they can follow along with the play. All roles are played by men, Noh kidding, and they speak in their natural voices when playing men or women. However, they wear masks when playing women, demons and spirits. The masks are smaller than the actors’ faces.
The first play members performed was Atsumori, by Seami. Properly kimono’d, aand standing in a semi-circle in front of the fireplace, standing in for the pine tree, they read the parts of the Priest, the Reapers, a Young Reaper, and Atsumori – our hero. When staged in true Noh style, everything happens very very slowly; which gives the audience time to consider the wisdom of some great lines, such as the chorus telling us: “Put away from you wicked friends; summon to your side a virtuous enemy.”
After acquainting us with our first Noh play, Laura then presented the remarkable Nine Levels: A Pedagogical Guide for Teachers of Acting. We read aloud the last three: Level Nine, The Marks of Coarseness and Leadenness, as embodied by the abilities of the tree squirrel. Level Eight, The Marks of Strength and Coarseness, explained with this, “A tiger three days after birth is all eager to eat an ox.” Level Seven: The Marks of Strength and [Regard for] Details, referred to the contrast between the metal hammer’s flashing, while the “precious sword’s gleam is cold.”
Then three more members clad in kimonos ascended to the stage and read from a Poem Play, Haku Rakuten, also by Seami, in which a Chinese poet arrives at the Japanese seashore, and is found by fishermen. Members acted the parts of Haku, the Two Fishermen, the Old Fisherman and the Chorus. The fishermen engage with Haku on the subject on poetry; then one of the fishermen is revealed as the god of Japanese poetry, and a great wind blows from their billowing sleeves and sends the Chinese poet and his ship back to China.
Returning to the pedagogy, still working backwards, we read Level Six: The Mark of Surface Design, encapsulated by “the Path of paths is not the usual path.” Skipping Level Five (Versatility and Precision), we moved on to Level Four: The Mark of the Genuine Flower. This level is rendered thus: “In the luminous mist the sun sinks; the myriad mountains are crimson.” Level Three: The Mark of the Tranquil Flower has a wonderfully elegant saying, “In a silver bowl, he piles snow.” With the last levels, actors approach the pinnacle of perfect acting. Level Two: The Mark of the Profoundly Brilliant Flower, is symbolized again with snow. “The snow covers a thousand mountains; how come a lone peak is not white?” And finally, to Level One: The Mark of the Miraculous Flower, about which we read: “In Silla at midnight, the sun is bright.”
With reluctance, we returned to our pedestrian, Western, and quicker lives, grateful for an afternoon spent with the glacially slow Noh drama, and of course, for the opportunity to wear lovely kimonos.
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary
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