Theatre History Overview - Part 34 - Peruvian Theatre

Theatre history in Peru goes back to Incan culture. Inca religious celebrations used drama and theatrics. However, there aren't any well-known records of this. It is known that in the 14th century, Christians used theatre to teach the Incans about the Christian religion through the same methods they used in their religious services.

It is thought that 1568 is the year of the first real play that was performed in Peru. This was at the San Pedro plaza in Lima. Puppet theatre grew as a popular form of entertainment between the 16th and early 17th centuries so that by 1625, Lima had two puppet theatres. By 1735, Incan theatrical stories were being translated into Spanish. One of these stories is Ollantay. However, theatre suffered when half the population of Lima was wiped out in 1746 due to an earthquake.

In 1879, Peru's independence from Spain was formally recognized. From that time to 1954, theatre was one of Peru's strongholds. It is estimated that 12- different playwrights wrote over 400 different plays that were performed in Lima over those years.

The 1970s were a time that new playwrights emerged in Peru. This allowed for many quality plays to be performed in the 1980s. By the end of the 20th century, Peru's government offered small subsidies for theatre groups and there were also over 100 plays performed during the theatre season. Peru's theatre is still strong today. There are a variety of performances ranging from traditional to modern to experimental along with dance and music.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 33 - Kazakhstani Theatre

Theatre history in Kazakhstan does not go far back because it was once part of the Soviet Union, so most of it's theatre history would go back to Russian Theatre. However, Kazakhstani theatre did start to find it's own place in 1926 under M.O. Auezov, S. Kozhamkulov, Y. Omizakov, and others that were know as "natural talent, titans of art." In January, the theatre staged its first play, Enlik-Qebek by M. Auezov and Altyn Sakina by by K. Kemerngeruly. In October of this year, Zh. Shanin helped to form the Kazakhstani theatre.

In the 1930s, more creative power joined the theatre. Enlik-Qebek was staged again in May 1933. In 1937, the Kazakhstani theatre was deemed to be academic. By the 1940s and 1950s, some of the best examples of national and world drama were on the Kazakhstani stage. By 1961, the Kazakhstani stage saw performances "The Taming of the Shrew", "Othello", "Richard III" by Shakespeare, "The Marriage" by Gogol, "El perro del hortelano"(Dog in the Manger) by Lope de Vega, "Little Tragedies" by Pushkin, "Woman’s fate" by M. Kaoru, "Don Juan or love to geometry" M. Frisch, "The House of Bernarde Alba" G. Lorca," Stepdaughter" by Pirandello, "The Cabal of Hypocrites" by Mikhail Bulgakov, "Uncle Vanya" by Chekhov and other plays.

The Kazakhstani theatre never truly saw a decline from when it was first founded. Over the years, it won many theatrical prizes from the USSR while under its rule. It continued to win prizes once independence was gained in October 1990. Shows are still performed today.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 32 - Estonian Theatre

Estonian theatre dates back to Estonian folklore when games and rituals were played to celebrate and commemorate. However, the foundation of a national theatre was not viable because of multiple foreign conquests since the 13th century.The first time that it was known that a play was performed was in the 16th century. Records show that there were plays performed on fast days and based upon Biblical subjects.

During the 17th century, theatre and the church diverged. Latin text was replaced with German text. In the 18th century, Russia brought August von Kotzebue (1761-1819) to Tallinn to work as an oficial. He was the first person to bring the Estonian language to the stage. In the 1870s a native Estonian theatre was founded. The Estonian poet Lydia Koidula (1843-1986) wrote and staged her plays. In the second half of the 19th century, theatre became extremely popular among Estonians.

During the early part of the 20th century, more theatres and and operas became professional. It is believed that Estonian Drama Theatre was founded in 1920. It was in this year that Dramastudio was born. During the 1940s, the war and Nazi occupation caused most theatre houses to lay in ruins. However, in 1949, Dramastudio Theatre started to function under the guidance of Estonia producer Paul Sepp. People who were in this group were educated with the knowledge and skills necessary for theatre.

After the death of Stalin in 1953, conditions for the theatre got even better. The 1960s saw new directors including Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski. Then during the 1970s, the new trends in theatre became exhaustive, but there wasn't a huge loss of theatre because in 1985, theatre attendance equaled that of the Estonian population.

However, once Estonia's independence was declared in 1991, audiences started disappearing. In order to fight this phenomenon, Estonia had more original plays staged and developed government funds for the theatre. The theatre started providing work for around 2,000 people. Theatre in Estonia is still popular today.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 31 - Hungarian Theatre

It can be difficult to find information on Hungarian theatre history, but there is a little bit. While it is in Transylvania which is in Romania, in 1792, the Theatre of Cluj was founded and Transylvania was in Hungary at that time. In 1784, Joseph II decreed that the Church of Carmelites in Hungary be turned into a theatre. The theatre was opened on October 16, 1787 and it was named Castle Theatre. The first play there was Der Mönich von Berge Carmel which means The Karmel Mountain Monk.

The venue usually hosted performances given in the German language. On October 25, 1790, the first performance in the Hungarian language was given. This was by László Kelemen and his company. They produced the play Igazházi by Alois Friedrich Brühl and Kristóf Simai. Another performance in Hungarian was not given until 43 years later.

In 1833, the German tenant of the theatre went bankrupt. A playing permit was given to the drama department of Dal és Színjátszó Társaság, which means Dal Theatrical Society, otherwise referred to as the Music and Theatre Playing Company. Dal és Színjátszó Társaság was from Kassa (Kosice). Kassa agreed to keep up the building so it would be exempt from bridge and road fees. On June 7, 1833, Dal és Színjátszó Társaság held it's first performance at the theatre, directed by András Fáy and Gábor Döbrentey.

The theatre was commissioned for renovation by the city of Buda in the year 1854. Then, on February 7, 1970, the city of Buda then decided that only Hungarian theatre companies could perform at Castle Theatre.

In 1884, Castle Theatre was renovated again. By 1886, more guest performances were held there. However, during Word War I, the building was used as military storage being that theatre equipment had become obsolete. In 1918, Castle Theatre was renovated again. Smaller companies played at Castle Theatre between 1919-1924.

In 1924, Castle Theatre was closed after the gallery collapsed. All theatrical design elements were removed in 1943 becaue of fire hazards and then in 1945, a mine explosion caused the building's roof to collapse.

Castle Theatre started to be rebuilt in 1947. In 1952, the Hungarian Theatre Museum was founded. The total renovation of Castle Theatre was not done until 1978. Castle Theatre re-opened on February 13, 1978. Népszínház used Castle Theatre from 1978 to 1982. It is not certain what happened from 1982 to 2001, but in 2001, Castle Theatre started hosting the National Dance Theatre and is now more commonly known as the National Dance Theatre.

Theatre in Hungary is still strong today with both Hungarian performances and tours in different languages that come to Hungary. A collection of theatre history still happens for the museum as well.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 30 - Azerbaijani Theatre

Theatre in Azerbaijan can be traced back to games and religious rites where wrestlers adn weightlifters known as pehlevans would play zorkhana games and Caucasian folk poets and singers would play an Azerbaijani long-necked lute known as the saz. However, it was only at the end of the 19th century that professional theatre became part of Azerbaijani culture. This started when Mizrah Fatali Akund-Zadeh, a colonel and educator by inclination, wrote six comedy plays between the years 1850-1855. He was inspired Moliere.

A bit after this, there would be some visiting performers from Russia that would perform in the Russian language, but their performances had nothing to do with the Azerbaijani culture. Around 1875, a performance of The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran by Mirzah Fatali Akhund-Zadeh was staged by an amateur group of Azerbaijan performers. This happened on Novrus Bayran, the celebration of the Azerbaijani new year.

In 1883, the first European-style theatre appeared in Azerbaijan. It was in Baku and was called the Taghiyev Theatre. However, this theatre was based off of the theatre in Russia and those were copied from European theatres. That meant that Taghiyev Theatre as a copy of a copy. Muslim men found the theatre requirements disgusting as they had to shave their beards, wear makeup, and even wear women's clothing as women were not allowed to act. Despite these obstacles, tehatre grew.

From 1920 to 1990, Azerbaijani theatre was full of self-expression. It was considered a pure actors' theatre. There were places for fiery speeches, melodramatic feelings, and tragic conflicts. It also had performances of classic plays that had been translated into the Azerbaijani language. Plays by playwrights such as Shakespeare and Hugo were performed.

In the 1980s, directors such as Huseynaga Atakishiyev, Vagif Ibrahimoglu and Azerpasha Nemat were trying to change the concept of a national Azerbaijani theatre. Plays such as The Career of Arturo Ui (1981), The School in Danabash Village (1983), Greetings from Heydarbaba (1990), and the Son (1990) all had an impact on Azerbaijani theatre culture because of the different aesthetics and dranaturgies used.

Azerbaijan still has a strong theatre culture to this day. The theatre seasons tends to be like most in the United States where theatres go dark for the summer and then a new season starts when the fall begins.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 29 - Icelandic Theatre

The history of the Icelandic theatre goes back to the late 1700s. The first well-known Icelandic play is Narfi, written by the well-knonw Icelandic playwright Sigurður Pétursson (1759-1827). It was based on Jean de France, one of Ludvig Holberg comedies. This comedy focuses on what happens to a young Dane when too much of Paris rubs off on him. In a way, this reflected how Iceland tried to keep its culture through theatrical performances while under Danish rule.

There was a flourishing of Icelandic drama in the 1860s and 1870s. Iceland's first stage designer was Sigurður Guðmundsson (1833-1874). He encouraged poets to national drama based on Icelandic folklore. He used what was known as "tableaux vivants," which were static scene pictures, but they were also living as they used actors to create the pictures seen on stage. He would use this in order to recreate pictures of old Norse sagas.

Jochumsson (1835-1920) became Iceland's most beloved poet. In 1862, he wrote The Outlaws. In 1871, Indriði Einarsson (1851-1939) wrote New Year's Eve, inspired by Ludvig Heiberg´s Elverhöj and Shakespeare´s Midsummer Night´s Dream. The Reykjavik City Theatre was founded in 1897. In the 1900s, Icelandic theatre flourish again. The playwrights Jóhann Sigurjónsson (1880-1919) and Guðmundur Kamban (1888-1945) wrote their plays in both Icelandic and Danish. Then on April 20, 1950, The Reykjavik Theatre Company was formally opened.

In the 1960s, fringe theatre started to make its mark in Iceland. In the later half of the 1900s, theatre, children's theatre, opera, and ballet grew in popularity in Iceland. Many theatre performances and theatrical events still exist in Iceland. On March 9, 2003, the Theatre Museum of Iceland was established in Iceland in order to preserve the theatre history of the country.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 28 - Jamaican Theatre

During the British rule of Jamaica, the first theatre was founded in Spanish Town in 1682. During the 1700s, two more theatres opened in Spanish Town and one opened in Kingston. Some people fled the United States and Europe, relocating to Jamaica, in order to avoid the Revolutionary war. Some of these people became involved with the four theatres in Jamaica. At the time, the most common performances were plays by Shakespeare and his colleagues.

In 1912, Charles James Ward founded the Ward Theatre in Jamaica. In the 1920s, Broadway plays started visiting the theatre. The Broadway actors considered it an honor to perform there. The Ward theatre lasted well into the late 20th century. However, the theatre fell into decline and closed.

While there might have been some influence from indigenous Jamaica theatre, it took many years for a true Jamaican theatre to develop. In 1941 (while Jamaica was still under British rule), the Little Theatre Movement (LTM) was founded Greta Fowler. It had the mission of fostering and developing theatre in Jamaica. LTM did not have a permanent home until and would perform pantomime plays in various locations in Kingston until it got a permanent home on Tom Redcam Drive.

Theatre in Jamaica today has some mainstream theatre. Most Jamaican theatre focuses on scripted plays that focus on Jamaican day to day living. Basil Dawkins and Paul O. Deale are popular playwrights that produce plays that deal with political and social commentary.

However, there are efforts to bring back the original Jamaican theatre form involving pantomime, music, drama, and comedy. Being that Jamaicans usually write in patois (local dialects), and some tourists cannot understand it, so Jamaican plays often do not appeal to others. Yet, Jamaican theatre is still running and growing.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 27 - Egyptian Theatre

Even though African Theater has been covered, the country of Egypt has a theatre history all of its own. Egyptian theatre goes back to ancient rituals. These ancient religious festivals incorporated expressive body movements, music, and a primitive form of impersonization. There was passion plays that dealt with the death and resurrection of the god, Osiris. It is thought that this play was performed annually at Abydo from about 2500B.C. to 550B.C. No part of the text for this play remains, but it is thought to be one of the most elaborate spectacles that wa ever staged because of the references that mention it.

The 17th century saw modern Egyptian theatre start to take shape. Small companies that performed shadow plays, puppetry, and/or impersonation would perform in public spaces across Egypt. Many of these performances dealth with the anger of the lower class against the tyrannical rulers. They would use symbolism that allowed them to avoid clashing with the rulers.

Contemporary theatre in Egypt really took of during the second half of the 19th century. The Ottoman ruler Isma'il Pasha wanted to transform Cairo intot he Paris of the East. He invited European companies to perform their works in Egypt. He establied the Cairo Opera House in 1869 and Tiato Al-Azbakeya, th country's first national theatre, in 1885.

There was a revolution in 1952 that put Gamal Abdel Nasser in charge of Egypt. Under his rule, Egypt went under a national renaissance. Playwrights shifted away from classical texts and focused on writing plays that dealt with Egyptian culture. In the 1970s, the open-door economic policie of Anwar Sadat, culture became seen as a luxury. This caused theatremakers to lose touch with the public. Theatre education remained outdated and many staqges across Egypt were left to rot. Many theatres today are still left in a decreipt state.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 26 - Scottish Theatre

Scottish theatre goes back to the medieval period. Like many places, they had liturgicla dramas and mystery plays. Many festivals were accompanied by performances of at least one of these plays. One example is ludi de ly haliblude which was staged at Aberdeen in 1440 and 1445.

During the reformation in the 16th century, the church did not like theatre that was not for a religious or moral purpose. Even plays that were not Catholic or were anti-Catholic in any way were not accepted. Around 1540, James Wedderburn has written anti-Catholic tragedies including Beheading of Johne the Baptiste and Dyonisius the Tyraone. because of this, he was forced to flee into exile. The same year saw David Lyndays write The Thrie Estaitis which is the only play to survive from before the reformation in Scotland.

In 1599, James VI arranged for a playhouse to be erected and to have a company of English actors perform. Very little evidence of theatre in 1600s Scotland edists. However, there is doucmentation of Marcian or the Discovery by William Clerke in 1663. There are also records of plays by Thomas Sydsurf frome the second half of the 1600s.

In the 1700s, the church of Scotland was still mostly against theatre. Most Scottish playwrights would work in London. When there were performances in Scotland, most were by visiting actors. These actors would still face hostility from the church. In an attempt to censor and control what was being written about the British government through theatre, the Licensing Act of 1737 was passed. This made acting in Scotland illegal and theatre closed down.

In the late 18th century, Scotland saw a revival of theatre. This started with closet dramas, which were plays that were not intended to be performed on the stage, but to be read out loud in small groups of by a solitary reader. A few of the writers of closet dramas were James Hogg, John Galt, and Joanna Baillie.

By the 19th century, theatre was considered to be at its height. In the early 19th century, there were many theatrical adaptations of historic material. A few Scottish plays from the 19th century are adaptations of Sir Walter Scott's Waverly novels, The Heart of Midlothian, The Bride of Lammermoor, and Rob Roy.

In the 20th century, J.M. Barrie was probably the most prominent Scottish playwright of the 20th century. Before Peter Pan was novelized in 1906, he had written it as a play in 1904. The Theatre Act of 1968 was passed and it abolished the Lisencing Act of 1737.

The 1970s started a golden age for Scottish theatre. Theatre in Scotland still goes strong today. There are even well known theatre festivals, with the two most well known ones being the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 25 - Irish Theatre

Much of Irish theatre was at first influenced by British theatre. Irish playwrights would go to Britain to sell their work or to have it performed. Then the first Irish public theatre was built in Dublin in 1637 by John Ogilby. It was closed in 1649 during the Irish Campaign when Oliver Cromwell came to power in Britain.

In the late 1800s, Irish theatre relied mainly on spectacle. After the 1890s, there were writers in Irish theatre that focused on creating works with high standards. Part of the reason for this was that there were people involved in a Celtic revival and growing Irish nationalism.

In 1892, Oscar Wilde wrote Salome. In this year, he also wrote Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman. The next year he wrote A Woman of No Importance. His plays The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband were written in 1895.

Indigenous Irish Theatre was started by Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory and W.B. Yeats with the Irish Dramatic Movement. In 1904, the Abbey Theatre was opened in Dublin. This theatre was established by Lady Gregory and was created so that artists could perform a specifically form of Irish theatre. From that point, Irish theatre began focusing on Irish legends and contemporary Irish life.

On July 17, 1951, there was a fire that destroyed the Abbey Theatre. In 1966, it was rebuilt by Michael Scott. It still stands today and houses many important pieces of Irish theatre history such as scripts, posters, and costume designs.

(Sorry that this is late, May 22 is my birthday, so after doing some school work, I was out enjoying my day the best that I could!)

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Theatre History Overview - Part 24 - African Theatre

While Africa didn't consider itself to have theatre, there was no doubt that early African traditions of dance, story telling, and songs that were rituals in the different religious practices across the continent of Africa. In the 13th century, Africa saw the first Arab shadow play. It was by Ibn Daniyal and was called Ajib wa Gharib. It was a humorous sketch on the conmen and entertainers of his day.

However, not many people have a lot of African theatre history recorded. A major reason for this is that African history was mainly oral and not written. By the late 1950s, the Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka was writing plays and by 2001, he had at least twelve plays to his name. In the 1960s, the Cameroonian Guillome Oyono Mbia was writing plays and his plays were compared to Moliere's plays.

African theatre still exists today. While this is extremely short, there are more resource on African theatre that can be found in books. There is also Britanica's article on African Theatre which is divided by country. Then there is Cambridge's online book, A History of Theatre in Africa, edited by Martin Banham.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 23C - Scandinavian Theatre

For awhile in the early 20th century, Albert Ranft was regarded as "the theatre emperor of Stockholm." For a bit of time, his empire included all of the private playhouse in Stockholm. He also ran the Royal Swedish Opera. He was extremely notable for The Swedish Theatre. Many plays that made history have premiered there. The most notable was probably 1907's A Dream Play August Strindberg.

There seems to be a gap for finding Scandinavian theatre history in the early 20th century. However, the second half does have information. In 1964, Eugenio Barba founded Odin Teatret in Oslo. Barba had previous worked in Jerry Grotowski's theatre laboratory in Poland. Then in 1966, Scene 7 opened in Oslo. This theatre was managed by Sossen Krohg. It was a subsection of Club 7. The theatre welcomed all kinds of experiement theatre, new types of drama, and new actors. Then in 1968, the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) in Høvikodden in Bærum (neighbouring municipality to Oslo) opened. People could go see visiting international plays among all the other expressions of art displayed there.

During the 1970s, Norway still experienced many forms of experimental theatre. By 1977 there were about 16 indepdent dance and theatre companies. In 1982, independent performing groups were accepted into Norway's national budget. The system was changed to one where groups would be separated by three-year management support, one-year management support, and singular projects. Scandinavian theatre is still going strongly today.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 23B - Scandinavian Theatre

Sweden's Royal Dramatic theatre's monopoly was dissolved in 1842. The Mindre Teatern was then founded by Anders Lindeberg, a Swedish writer and journalist. In 1852, the Norwegian Dramatic School was founded by Johannes Benedictus Klingenberg, a Norwegian military officer and engineer. He was disappointed by the by the un-Norwegian repertoire that he found when he visited the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen. By 1854, the school was made into a performing arts theatre named the Christiana Norwegian Theatre. At first, Henrik Ibsen was associated with the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen where he was the stage director, but in the autumn of 1857, he took over the responsibilities for the operations of the Christiana Norwegian Theatre. He served in this capacity until 1862 when the Christiana Norwegian Theatre went bankrupt. On July 15, 1863, the Christian Norwegian Theatre and the Norwegian Theatre officially merged. It was in this same year that the Mindre Teatern was dissolved and sold to the Royal Theatre.

Also in 1863, Henrik Ibsen finished writing Kongs-Emnerne. The title means "pretenders to the crown," and Ibsen based the play on the life of King Hakon (1217-1263). In 1867, he finished writing Peer Gynt, his satire on second-rateness.The Swedish Theatre opened in 1875 which officially known as Svenska Teatern or Svenskan. It was founded by Edvard Stjermstrom on the peninsula of Blaiseholmen in Stockholm. Just a year later, Den Nationale opened in Stockholm.

In 1849, the playwright, Louise Grandberg (who was also Stjermstrom's wife), started writing and translating plays. Sometimes she did this with her sister. When they wrote together, they used the pseudonym Carl Blink. The the 1860-1861 theatre season, her play Johan Fredman was staged at the Mindre Teatern in Stockholm. Also in 1860, the actress Magda von Dolcke premiered in Denmark under the name Rosalinde Thomsen. At this time, she was in a well-known relationship with the Norwegian writer Bjornestjern Martinius Bjornson. In 1874, the actress became active in the Mindre Teatern. It is thought she started acting here because she was having an affair with King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway at the time while his wife, Sophia of Nassau, had went to Germany for her health. Dolcke then became active in Folkan and Djurgardsteastern in Stolkhom in 1876. At this time, the actor Albert Ranft started acting in Dolcke's theatre company.

Also, in 1876, Den Nationale Scene was founded in Bergen. Stjermstrom died in 1877 and his wife, the playwright Louise Granberg took over running Svenskan. In 1879, Ibsen finished writing A Doll's House which was considered extremely avant-garde in terms for feminism. After Granberg died, Svenskan became part of Ranft's theatrical empire. He also started his own traveling theatre company in 1884. In 1899, the Nationaltheatre in Christiana (later known as Oslo) opened.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 23A - Scandinavian Theatre

Scandinavia is the group of countries Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It is difficult to find a lot of information on the beginning of Scandinavian theatre without books that specialize on writing about the history of Scandinavian theatre specifically. However, it is known that a type of viking theatre existed in the 10th century A.D. because Harald the Bluetooth (yes, his name is the source for the technology known as Bluetooth), the King of Denmark accepted baptism into Christianity after seeing a piece of Viking theatre. This piece of theatre was a drunken argument over who was most powerful: Odin, Thor, or the "new" Christian God and his son, Jesus.

The reason why theatre was not found in Scandinavian for some time between the original Viking theatre and sometime between the 16th to 18th centuries does not seem to be found online. A tiny bit is known, though. In 1722, the king of Scandinavia had banned all theatrical performances done in the French language. Rene Montaigu assembled a talented company of mostly university students in order to try to revive Scandinavian, mainly Danish, theatre. However, the company was underfunded.

Since plays in the French language had been outlawed, it was only okay to see plays in the Danish language. Ludvig Holberg started writing plays in Danish in order to entertain a Scandinavian audience. Song and dance became popular and a French ballet master, Jean Baptist Lande, was permitted to form a French opera troupe. Lande's and Holberg's talents combined talents sparked some interest in revival in the theatre. However, a fire that destroyed over 1,000 buildings in Copenhagen was seen as a punishment for godless activities happening in the theatres. This combined with the changing of the throne in 1730 quelled theatrical productions in Denmark and Norway.

However, theatre wasn't forbidden in Sweden. A theatre tht had plays in Swedish opened in Sweden in 1737. Within the first two years, twenty new plays had been produced. Theatre came back to Denmark in 1748 when the Danish Royal Theatre was founded in 1748. Ludvig Holberg resumed writing plays until his death in 1754.

(This is the entry for Friday, May 18, 2018. One of these days, things will hopefully be all fixed so I can write these blog posts in time.)

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Theatre History Overview - Part 22 - Mexican Theatre

The history of Mexican theatre dates back to the Aztecs. Theatrical performances were usually part of religious celebrations. They included myths and legends about the Aztec gods. There were hymns to these gods that the choirs in the plays would sing. While the theatrical dramas were religious performances, they would also have every day elements to which observers could relate. There are some historians that believe pre-Hispanic Mexiacan theatre was the first to be entiredly written in prose.

After the 15th century, the Aztecs were introduced to Western theatre after the Spanish invasion. Even though the Spanish invasion introduced Western theatre, many elements from the Nuhuatlan culture survived. However, the plays were still mainly religious dramas.

1539 saw the first recorded non-religious drama. It was called "The Conquest of Rhodes." It was written to celebrate and era of peace between Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France. In 1574, "Spiritual Wedding of the Shepherd Peter and the Mexican Church" was produced. It was significant because it is the first recorded Spanish work written for Mexico by an American-born author. The the second half of the 16th century, short comedic plays that took place both before and after more serious plays became popular. There were different types of these plays. Some of the names for them were entremeses, coloquios, and sainetes.

In the 1800s, theatre in Mexico decreased due to war. However, it still existed and took on a more nationalistic conscience. In the early 20th century, plays started to be written in the Mexican-Spanish tongue rather than in the pure Spanish language of Spain. In the 1950s, realism was introduced to Mexican theatre and in the 1960s, playwrights became daring with their works. The thriving theatre in Mexico today encompasses many different types of theatre including theatre in the Aztac and Mayan languages.

(This still counts as my May 17, 2018 blog post as work kept me from writing this earlier.)

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Theatre History Overview - Part 21 - Ukrainian Theatre

Ukrainian theatre can be traced back to pagan rituals that took place before the Christianization of Ukraine. Some of these elements can still be seen in Ukrainian weddings and the summer Kupalo festival. Once the Ukraine was Christianized, The Divine Liturgy took on theatrical elements. Pagan rituals were converted into ways to teacher or celebrate Christianity and adopted by the church.

1619 saw the first non-ritual Ukrainian theatre when two two short sketches that were comedic or satiric, known as intermedes, took place between the acts of a Polish religious drama. The subjects of the intermedes were not related to the play in which they were found. European medieval theatre influenced further development of Ukrainian theatre. At first theatre was found in schools. However, in 1765, Metropolitan (the head of an ecclesiastical province in the Ukrainian Catholic church) Samuil Myslavsky banned theatre in schools. This contributed to students helping to create vertep.

Vertep is a portable puppet theatre. The portable theatre represents the nativity scene A vertep theatre is a wooden box with one or two storeys. The floor had slits in it so that puppeteers could control the wooden puppets. If the box had two storeys, the upper storey was used for the nativity scene with the lower being used for interludes and other mystery plays. The plays consisted of both a religious drama and a secular drama.

In the 19th century, secular theatre in the Ukrainian language became popular. The first staged plays in Ukrainian were written by HryhoriiKvitka-Osnovianenko and Ivan Kotliarevsky. In 1876, more censorship came when Ems Ukase banned all theatre. Censorship eased after the failed Revolution of 1905. In March 1917, a theatrical committee was created. From 1922-1933, the Berezil existed in Kyiv. Les Kurbas's method of "transformed gestures" was developed. In 1934, socialist realism was applied to Ukrainian theatre. This was considered the most progressive method of portraying reality. It affected every element of the theatre and theatre education.

Today, there are both professional and amateur theatres located in Ukraine. A couple of the professional theatres are the Toronto Zahrava Theater and Avant-Garde Ukrainian Theater.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 20 - Russian Theatre

The origin of Russian drama seems to be related to Pagan shows. There were recitations of fables and proverbs. They also had singing and dancing. These were performed by traveling minstrels known as skomorokhi. The Orthodox church persecuted the Pagans that put on these shows. This probably started in the 12th century when Poland introduced Religious Dramas or Histories. While he doesn't mention the Pagan parts of theatre, the religious theatre from Poland is mentioned by Tiechonravoff in Origin of the Russian Theatre.

These Histories were first performed exclusively in monasteries. In 1672, a theatre at the court of tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia opened. This was the first theatre in Russia that would stage Biblical dramas. Theatre in St. Petersbug started in in 1752. Fyodor Volkov’s theatre troupe was invited from a Yaroslavl town. In the middle of the 18th century, plays by Griboyedov and Gogol were written and produced. These were considered the first masterpieces of Russisan theatre. Then by the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century, serf theatre started to show up in places across Russia.

In 1898, the Moscow Art Theatre of Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko was founded. This is considered the most important part of Russian theatre in this period. More theatres were founded in the 1900s. Most of these were drama theatres in St. Petersburg. Russian theatre had to fit into the ideals of Soviet theatre. This meant there was idiological dictatorships and rigid frames that the theatre had to match.

When ballet revival came to Russia, it renovated musical theatre in Russia. However, drama theatre made people think and want art creating social theatres and the transformation of theatres that were bound to the Soviet ideals. Today, Russian theatre enjoys complete freedom. Many of the plays and much of the acting styles are still based in Stanislavky's methods.

(Sorry for the late blog post, but for me, this still counts as the May 15, 2018 blog post. I was in a late night tutoring session that prevented me from writing this post earlier.)

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Theatre History Overview - Part 19 - Thai Theatre

The earliest form of Thai theatre seems to be a type of entertainment that the Thais created during what is known as the Sukothai Period (1240-1438). The Thais adopted elements from bordering countries and empires. There is a stone that is dated around 1293 A.D. that has an inscription attributed to king Ramkhamkhaen that mentions terms for merrymaking and musical instruments. However, it is questioned if the document is authentic.

The text that is more important for the history of Thai theatre is The Three Worlds or Traiphum. This text is attributed to the 14th century King Lithai of Sukhothai. In it, there is a description of the 31 levels of Theravada Buddhist cosmos. It says that dance is connected to and has influenced temple architecture and imagery.

Artist forms started to be brought back during the reign of King Rama I when lost literature was being recreated. He ordered the manuscripts of Triptaka, the Ramakien, and the Thai version of the Indian epic, Ramayana.

However, it the golden age of Thai theatrical arts is considered to have happened under the rule of King Rama II (1809-1824). He wrote his own versions of the Ramakien and the story cycle Inao which was originally the East Javanese story cycle, Prince Panji. Classical dance was revived along with having dance manuals written. Then both khon, mask-theatre, and lakhon nai, court dance-drama were standardized.

King Rama III abolished theatre, but Rama IV (1851-1886) revived it. King Chulalongkorn or Rama V (1868-1910) kept the theatre going. He was the first Thai king to visit Europe. His visit brought Western theatre to Thailand and the first theatre house was built in Bangkok. The Bangkok urban audience liked opera and Western-style theatre. Even King Chulalongkorn wrote plays, including Lilith Nitra, a story about the aboriginal people of South Thailand.

Today, you can find Western influence theatre in Thailand. However, you can also still find traditional Thai dance and music as well.

Early dance images also exist. There is a fragment of a stucco sculpture from sometime between the 8th-11th century. It is a half-human, half=bird mythical kinnari. The body is bent in the tribhanga position that is found in Indian dance that influenced Thai dance.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 18 - Korean Theatre

Korean theatre pre-dates Japanese theatre. It is thought that Korean theatre was first performed in courtyards and then moved to the stage.

The first Korean theatre was performance based and was not plot-driven. There are two types of history Korean theatre. Talchum, or Korean Mask Theatre, began in the 9th century A.D. Then the Art of Storytelling, or Pansori began in the 14th century A.D.

Talchum was often more political in nature. The performers were discussed behind the masks that they wore and would dance to a loosely formed narrative. Because the performers were disguised, they felt free to act out satire.

Pansori had a central actor that told the story. This actor would be supported by another who provided music, drum beats, and verbal sounds. Some sources say that there were more than one supporting actor.

By the 19th century, small theatre houses were being built in Korea. Today, there are three main types of theatre. The biggest type is the popular theatre. These are built and owned by theatre companies. They are used to house big musicals and translations of Broadway hits. The other two type of theatre are Daeharko (off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway) where most of the plays are independent or experimental and government funded theatre where translated traditional theatre such as Shakespeare and Chekhov can be seen.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 17 - Persian Theatre

Persian theatre goes back to the time of antiquity (around the 8th century B.C.). The first types of Persian theatre were ceremonial, used to glorify heroes and humiliate enemies. Persian theatre was recorded by the Greek historian, Herodotus.

Many performing arts became popular before the 7th century in Persia. Naqqali is the oldest form of dramatic arts in Persia. This is Persian recounting stories. In Naqqali, a performer would tell a story in verse or prose while using gestures and movemnts. Sometimes instrumental music or painted images on scrolls would also be used.

There was also Kheimeh Shab Bazi, Iranian Puppet Theatre. There were both traditional and innovative plays. These were done with "string puppets." Two people are involved, a person who performs music and a person who tells the story. The dialog is between the person telling the story and the puppets.

Other forms of Persian theatre there were popular before the 7th century A.D. were comical acts on both politics and domestic life, screen based story telling, mobile singing, and shadow plays. There were many other forms of Persian theatre that have no been mentioned.

Persian theatre continues to this day. While there are theatrical performances like those in the west, Persian theatre also still has many of the traditional forms of theatre. The Persian puppet theatre is still popular. There are even theatre festivals that are specially held for theatre education, children, and people with disabilities.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 16 - Chinese Theatre

It is not certain when theatre started in China, but there are references that go back as far as 1500 B.C. This was during the Shang Dynasty. These thearical entertainments involved clowning and acrobatic displays.

Shadow puppetry emerged as the first recognized type of theatre in China. These was during the Han Dynasty under the rule of Empress Ping. There were two forms of shadow puppetry: Contonese (southern) and Pekingese (northern). The two types differed int he way the puttpets were made and the positioning of rods on the puppets. Both styles had plays that dipicted great adventure and fantasy.

Tradition stated that if the heads were left on the puppets when not being used in a performance, that the puppets would ceom alive. Because of this, the heads of the puppets were always removed. Puppeteers would even store the bodies and the heads in different storage containers. Shadow puppetry became a tool of the government sometime after its height in the seventh century.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty in 700 A.D., the elements of Chinese opera had been established. In 714 A.D. Xuanzong, better known as Minghuang, started the Pear Garden Academy. Music, singing, and dance were all taught. Both men and women were taught at the academy, which helped contribute to the talent found in Chinese theatre.

Chinese theatre continue to grow between the 11th adn 13th centuries. While there were military campaigns that tore the country apart, theatre grew. Theatrical performances took place in order to entertain the troops. By the end of the 13th century, it was common for tourists to find theatrical entertainment in structures called Washi that were created specifically for the purpose of entertainment. Some of the names of the Washi included the character "lou." This meant that it was a high-storied building. In this building, the audience would follow the events on stage up through the different storeys of the building.

During this time, the Nanxi plays also were developed. These had ideal heros and heroines. The heros would be handsome bookworms and the heroines would be young and virtulous. The first Nanxi play sthat still have a complete llibretto for is "Top Graduate Zhang Xie." Then from 1271-1368 A.D. Chinese playwrights started to emerge. Drama was the leading form of literary expression at that time.

There is evidence that the Chinese Opera started developing as early as the 15th century, although it is thought it didn't truly start developing until the 17th century. Sometime around the 18th century, Chinese opera started to have a more sophisticated form. It wound have a four or five act structure. This structure can still be seen to this day at the Peking Opera.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 15 - Indian Theatre

Indian theatre started sometime between 2000 B.C. and the 4th century A.D. This was discovered by one of the earliest text in the world that is about dramaturgy. This text is called NatyaShastra. It was written by Bharat Muni. If it is older than 600 B.C., this means that Indian theatre formed earlier than Greek theatre.

The NatyaShastra describes rasa, which is the idea of artistic experience. Rada pervades all Indian art forms such as writing and dancing as well as theatre. The NatyaShastra also defines ten types of plays. However, there are two main types of plays. The Natakas are plays that dipict historical stories that deal with the divine or with mythology. Prakarana involved inventing stories dealing with every day characters and the events in their lives.

Indian theatre went through three main periods. The classical period began whenever theatre started in India and went through 1000 A.D. The stories in theatre were mainly stories that the audience already knew. Because of this, many physical elements and movements were used in the performances. The Traditional Period lasted from 1000 A.D. to `700 A.D. During this time, plays were presented verbally from the traditions and stories that had been passed down verbally rather than from written scripts. It was also during this time that regional languages and improvisation were brought to the Indian stage.

The modern period began in the late 18th century and ended in the 19th century. Because of the British rule in India, Western theatre influenced Indian theatre. This brought the tradition of theatre to being about reflections of the common man rather than about the gods and their miraculous feats. It also brought the procenium stage.

Before the procenium stage, Indian theatre had it's own types of theatres. The NatyaShastra explains three different types of theatres: rectangular, square, and triangular. Each kind of theatre could be large, medium, or small. The most common type of theatre was the medium-sized rectangular theatre. It measured about 96x48 feet. The space was divided in half with one half being for the audience and the other half being the stage and the backstage area.

While India still views theatre as extremely important, it does not treat it like it is often treated in the United States. There are some theatre course and theatre schools, but theatre is mostly done as an extra-curricular activity by students. They participate in religious theatre and street theatre. However, as the popularity of theatre in India grows, there might be more theatre education because theatre seems to be rivaling the popularity of cinema and television.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 14 - Restoration Spectacular

Restoration Spectacular took place in the late 17th century. It happened on the London stage. These elaborate pieces of theatre were basically home grown, but they were never ashamed of borrowing stage technology and ideas from French Opera. Because of this, they were sometimes called English Opera, but most theatre historians dn't like defining them as a genre because there is not a tidy way to truly classify these theatrical performances.

Another name for a restoration spectacula is a "machine play." Thse machines plays were elaborately staged. They involved illusionisitc painting, gorgeous costumes, movalbe scenery, and special effects. Some of the special effects that might be seen during a restoration spectacular were flying actors, trapdoor tricks, and fireworks.

Willam Davenant brougt changable (not only moveable) scenery to the public stage. Compared to "legitimate" restoration drama, restoration spectaculars were regarded as "vulgar" and having bad reputations. However, it was the elaborate scenery and spectacle that drew in the London crowds.

A large number of sets, a large number of performers, and vast amounts of money were required to stage a restoration spectacular. If a show did not go well, such as Albion and Albnaius by John Dryden, a theatre could easily go into debt. However, when hits like Thomas Shadswell's Psyche were staged, then companies would not have to worry about their finances for a long time.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 13 - French Theatre

ome people think that French theatre only developed very late in the 1500s, almost starting in the year 1600. However,that is not true. It is only true that French theatre was in a type of hiatus from 1562-1598 because of the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants.

French theatre actually has a history that dates back to the 12th century. At this time, most theatre was written and performed in Latin. However, there were plays written in French. The earliest example is probably Le jeu d'Adam. the idea for theatre was entertainment, not religious education.

Theatre in 16th century France followed much of the same patterns as other renaissance theatre. However, French theatre truly came into it's own in the 17th century.

In 1635, the Academie Francaise was created by Cardinal Richilieu in order to try to regulate language and literary expression. This caused a conflict in the theatre because others wanted literary freedom. However, by 1660, the acceptance of literary rules was established as the norm. These rules were published in Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux's 1674 publication.

It was during this time that some of France's greatest dramatists emerged. These included Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Molilere.

In the early 1700s, Comedie-Italienne (Italian comedies, so-called to distinguish it from the Comedie-Francaise that was produced) became popular. This was after they had been banned in 1697 for being found too offensive. However, durign this time, companies even started interspersing Comedie-Italiane with French words. One theatre company even got permission from Louis XIV to use all French in the Comedie-Italienne plays.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Romanticism became popular in France. Opera bouffe (Comic opera) also became popular around this time. It was also at this time that claquers were used. These were people that were hired to clap during performances. There are also rieurs, who laugh, pleurerus, who fake crying, chatouilleurs, who keep the audience ina good mood, and bisseurs who clap their hands and shoud, "bis! bis!"

In the mid 1900s, theatre of the absurd came into being with Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano. This also made way for playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. French theatre continues strongly to this day, using plays in French and from all over the world.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 12 - Restoration

In 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne of England. He had been in France during the past years when theatre had been banned in England, partly due to the puritans fidning that it was sinful. Because he had been in France, he brought the influence of French theatre back to England.

The popular type of theatre during the restoration was Restoration Comedy. These comedies often exaggerated or made fun of society and rulers. The audience were mainly upper class because they could afford to go see theatre. They knew that the plays made fun of them and enjoyed this lampooning. Restoration Comedies also included Comedies of Manners. A Comedy of Manners play would often reverse roles or attitudes, satirizing the behaviors of society. There would often be disguises and misunderstandings that the audience would know, but the characters in the play would not know. Everything would be revealed to the characters at the end of the play.

Compared to how plays were often written in verse, often using the heroic couplet, plays written during the restoration used prose. Rather than having a national type of play, such as an English Comedy of Manners, plays from countries all across Europe were welcomed on stages. Every country had an influence on every other country when it came to plays and theatre.

During the restoration, women were allowed to be on stage and act. Women also began to appear as playwrights. The woman playwright that is probably the best known from the restoration is Mrs. Aphra Behn. While the Puritans did not like t heatre, women being involved with theatre was extremely upsetting to them. Puritans would attack theatres with pamphlets and other protests. The most violent attack happened in 1698 when a pamphlet called A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage was written by the clergyman Jeremy Collier.

Due to Collier's attack, king James II issued a proclamation "against vice and profaneness." Playwrights were prosecuted and actors and actresses were fined. This did not deter the writers and actors of the restoration. Insteead, writers attacked the Puritans by writing new plays which riducled Puritans.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 11 - Spanish Golden Age

In 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille were married, unifying Spain and making it a European power. Then, in 1492, Spain was claimed for Christianity at the Siege of Granada. Because of this seige, military men became concerned with codes of chivalry and honor. Spain did not become involved in the renaissance until about 30 years after it started.

However, once Spain did become involved in the renaissance, it was quite different than many other places. Both secular and religious drama existed at the same time. Both state-sponsored theatre and for-profit theatre existed at the same time. While a "golden age" usuallyl isn't literal, Spain's almost was. Much of the money that supported theatre came from gold, spices, and slaves.

A variety of genres of plays existed during the Spanish Golden Age. However, the main genres were probably auto sacramentales, zarzuelas, and comdeias. Auto sacramentales are religious plays that reflected Spain's Catholic devotion. Zarzuelas are Spanish lyric-dramas that alternate between spoken and sung scenes. The sung scenes would use both operatic and popular songs as well as dance. Felix Lope de Vega y Carpio (Vega) was one of the major creators of comedias. Comedias did not have strict rules. They depended on observations and suggestions, allowing playwrights to experiment. However, comedias did have features that seemed to be common through most of them such as three-act structures, mixtures of tragedy and comedy, and a variety of verse form, but almost never any prose in a play.

Unlike most of Europe during the Renaissance, After 1587 women were allowed to act. Thus, heroines were played by women. Because of this, women disgusing themselves as men became a common plot device. However, after 1599, the Spanish government change its laws about women acting to that in order for a woman to act, she had to be married to a man in a professional troupe.

It is thought that around 30,000 plays were produced during the Spanish Golden Age. There is criticism about this many plays being that there is the idea that quantity was seen as more important than quality. However, because there are so many plays, this gives researchers plenty of material to study about the plays of the era.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 10 - Bunraku

Along with Nogaku and Kabuki, the third type of Japanese theatre that is known is Bunraku. This is a form of Japanese puppet theatre. Three types of performers participate in bunraku: puppeteers, chanters, and musicians. Sometimes instruments such as drums are used. While Bunraku can be traced back to the 16th century, the modern form began in 1680 with the playwright Chikamatus Monazemon and the chanter Takemoto Gidayu.

Bunraku has a special stage. It is separated into left and right sides. A small curtain hangs at stage right and stage left. The puppets enter and exit through the curtain. A narrator's platform is located stage left. It is a circular revolving platform that comes out diagonally into the audience's seating area. There is a wall that goes across the diameter of the platform so each side can seat a narrator and a chanter. This makes entering and exiting the stage easy as the platform only has to be rotated in order for them to enter and exit. There are also screened off rooms - one stage left and one stage right. In the screened off room stage left, there may be a less experienced narrator and a less experienced chanter. They can change places with different narrators and chanters that are on the back part of the narrator's platform while they are not facing the audience. In the screened off room that is located stage right are the musicians.

Bunraku puppets are made of heads, torsos, hands, and feet. These are attached with string. The puppets do not have bodies, but the bodies are created by wrapping kimonos around the puppets to create chests, stomachs, arms, and legs. Female puppets are never made with feet or shoes due to the cultural custom that Japanese women never showed their feet. Even though this cultural custom has changed, the tradition in Bunraku is still followed. The costumes for puppets are made of the same material that Japanese actors wear, but are 2/3 the size of a costume for humans. Then, one puppet may have five or more different heads in order to show different emotions.

A Bunraku performance is usually performed in two segments. One usually takes place in the early afternoon and the next in the late evening. However, one Bunraku play can may last for an entire day.

The future of Bunraku is uncertain as funding has been falling. This is because there is a policy with the Japanese government about how many poeple go to see Bunraku in order to get funding.

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Seussical, Jr. in Lake Charles for Three More Performances!

Seussical (including Seussical Jr.) easily became one of my favorite musicals once I saw it. Going into it, I wasn't certain because sometimes musicals based on literature or small television series aren't that great. I thought I would be a fan of the School House Rock musicals, but I was able to see it and it did not come together well at all. I also thought I would like The Secret Garden musical because I liked the stage play, but the musical changed quite a bit of the plot of how things actually happen.



I'm glad to say that Seussical is not this way. It combines the stories of Dr. Seuss, but they mainly stay in tact and tell a great story when put all together. The only question that I might have in mind when going to see a performance of Seussical or Seussical, Jr. is if the performance will be any good. I did not have a doubt that I'd see a great performance when I found out that Christian Youth Theater of Lake Charles was going to have performances of Seussical, Jr.

The entire crew did an amazing job. Of course, there are always those performers that catch my eye. Keep a look out for Jaylin Williams (the Cat in the Hat), Cole Becton (Horton the Elephant), Zoe LeBeau (Gertrude McFuzz), Kaylee Caroll (Sour Kangaroo), and of course Clay Corley (Mr. Mayor). This production of Seussical, Jr. is directed by Joy Pace and choreographed by Joey Frazier.

You can see the production at the following times:

• Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 2:00pm
• Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 7:00pm
• Sunday, May 6, 2018 at 2:00pm

The show is held on the stage at the Lake Charles Boston Academy located at 1509 Enterprise Blvd. in Lake Charles, LA 70601.

Tickets are $15 at the door and $12 when purchased through Lake Charles Christian Youth Theater's website. The price for tickets goes down to $10 for children 10 and under, seniors age 62 or older, those serving in the military, and per person for groups with a minimum of 10 people.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 9 - Kabuki theatre

Kabuki is another form of Japanese theatre. It originated in the 17th century when a female dancer named Okuni became popular because of her parodies of Buddhist prayers. She assembled a group of female performers and they would dance and act. However, the female performers were also prostituted, so all females were banned from acting in Japan in 1629. After this, young boys would dress as women and continued to perform Kabuki. Eventually older men took over the roles and that is the style of Kabuki that continues today.

Kabuki was the first form of dramatic entertainment created for the common people that reached any form of importance. It is usually performed on a stage in a hall. The stage is often modeled after the stage used for nogaku, but also extends into the audience.

The name kabuki means "song, dance, and skill" with each syllable representing each word. Kabuki uses dance, mime, extravagant makeup, spectacular staging, and spectacular costuming. By the early 18th century, Kabuki was not just for entertainment. It was able to present serious and dramatic situations. As commoners in Japan started to rise on the economic scale, Kabuki provided vivid commentary on society. Actual historical events, such as Chushingura (1784), were transferred to the stage.

There is usually a constant interplay between the actors and the audience when Kabuki is performed. The subject matter is clearly separated into historical plays and domestic plays. These two plays are usually separated by one or two dance plays featuring supernatural and exotic creatures.

The basic idea of Kabuki is to allow actors to demonstrate their skills and to entertain teh audience. However, there are often didactic elements dealing with religion, society and morality. Kabuki can still be seen today almost all the time at theatres in big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Performances are usually divided into two or three segments and tickets are usually sold for each segment. Each ticket costs raound 2,000 yen or $18.33 US.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 8 - Nogaku (Noh and Kyogen)

Theatre did not only exist in Europe during the early to mid years of the 2nd millennium. Theatre existed in other continents, even though we do not usually think about them. One of these continents was Asia and a main country where theatre was found was Japan.

During the 14th century, Nogaku theatre was developed in Japan. Nogaku is the performance of both Noh and Kyogen. It involved music, dance, and drama. It is rare to find Noh or Kyogen separate from each other because it is traditional to have comedic Kyogen pieces performed between the dramatic Noh performances. There were usually five Noh plays and four Kyogen plays if there was an interlude between each Noh play.

The art form was popularized by Zeami during the time known as the Muromachi Period (1333-1573). At first, Zeami's art attracted the patronage of the government, but he later fell out of favor with the government. While the government no longer liked Zeami, Noh troupes still existed and performed Nogaku.

Noh and Nogaku became the official ceremonial art of Japan during the Tokugawa Period (1603-1867). This put an emphasis on tradition rather than on innovation. Noh stories are often drawn from legend, history, and tradition, and sometimes from literature and contemporary events.

All performers in Nogaku are male. The Shite is the leading character. The Waki is the supporting actor. The Hayashi are the musicians. The Jiutai are the c chorus and the Koken are the stage attendants. The Koken are like stage crew in a theatrical performance. The shite wears masks so the audience knows what type of character is being portrayed. The props and costumes have many layers resulting in a bulky image, although props can also enhance expressiveness.

Nokagu is usually performed on a square stage that has pillars at each corner that hold up a roof. Three sides of the stage are open while the fourth serves as the back of the stage and has a backdrop of a pine tree. A bridge runs at an oblique angle off the stage so performers can enter and exit. While Nogaku was traditionally performed outside, inside stages have become common performance venues. An okina play may be performed before Nogaku. This is a play that does not have a plot, but the movements are a sacred rite asking for peace, prosperity, and safety across the land. A common presentation today is an abbreviated Nogaku piece with two Noh stories and one Kyogen story presented between them.

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