Theatre in Context

Activity #1: Do you Noh Atsumori?

1.     Describe the setting of the play.

The setting of the play seems to be on a grassland/hill that is a path to the home of Priest Rensei, there is where he encounters the reapers and the ghost of Atsumori.

2.     What is the main conflict in the plot of the play, and whose conflict is it?

The main conflict of the play is Priest Rensei’s attempt to pray for the life of Atsumori, which he took during the war. Things get very interesting when the young reapers turns into Atsumori himself to speak with his killer and decide whether or not he wants revenge.

3.     How is the plot conflict resolved?

The conflict is resolved when the ghost of Atsumori hears Rensei’s prays and realizes that the man has changed over the years and forgives him.

4.     What is the theme of this play?

The theme of the play is the forgiveness that the Priest Rensei is looking for after assassinating Atsumori and looks redemption over the following years.

5.     What adjectives would you use to describe the style in which the play is written?

Happy, Joyful, Serene, Loving, Angry.

Story Elements in the Japanese Noh Play Atsumori

Character	Character’s Role or Conflict in the Play	Resolution - Outcome for Character at the End of the Play
Rensai The Priest	He is the one who killed Atsumori in the war years ago and is looking for redemption	He became friends with the man he killed years ago
The Young Reaper	He is the initial appearance of Atsumori and introduces himself as a family member from the “Atsumori Family”	He tells the story of how Atsumori was killed in battle by Rensai and then takes the physical form of Atsumori in order to get revenge
The Reapers	Group of people playing a flute	Not much to say about the reapers since they were background characters
Atsumori	He appears as a ghost in the story since he was killed long ago and plans on getting revenge but has a change of heart towards the end	He forgives Rensai because of his prayers and does not exact his revenge
The Chorus	At times to narrate what was going on in the story	Since they were just the people singing they had no change throughout the play

Activity #2: Getting to know the Noh

1. Atsumori is a warrior play (shura) because the ghost of Atsumori (a fallen warrior) comes back  to take his revenge against his killer, Rensei.
2. The mysterious fact revealed about the reapers past is that he's a member of the family of Atsumori.
3. Atsumori's realization at the end of the play is that Rensei is not his enemy as he has become a priest and changed the way he is over the years.

Activity #3: Buddhism and Noh

• Begin by looking at the cast of characters for the play. Do any of the characters in Atsumori seem to be directly connected to buddhism?

At the end of the play, Atsumori and says how he and Rensei will be reborn together as he no longer views him as an enemy but a acquaintance that now prays for his soul.

• Do any of the characters make reference to buddhism or to buddhist belifs in their exchanges?  Be sure to cite examples from the text.

Well, at the end of the play the Chorus is telling how Atsumori was about to get his revenge against Rensei but seeing that his foe had changed his ways over the years and had been praying for his soul, he agrees that both will be reborn one day not as enemies but as friends. "There is my enemy," he cries, and would strike,

But the other is grown gentle

And calling on Buddha's name

Has obtained salvation for his foe;

So that they shall be re-born together

On one lotus-seat.

"No, Rensei is not my enemy.

Pray for me again, oh pray for me again."

• In the essay on Shinto and Buddhism in Japan the writer states that in Buddhism there was “an optimism about human nature, for it was committed to the belief that all human beings had the potential to attain the wisdom that brings an end to suffering, and an ultimate optimism about the world itself, since it taught that once human attachments are discarded, the world takes on a new and positive significance.” Can you find any examples of this optimism in the Noh play Atsumori? Be sure to use examples and to explain your answer.

An example of optimism about human nature in the play Atsumori is when the spirit of Atsumori forges the priest for his prayers and since the priest Rensei had given up on his physical possessions, he had changed his way of living and became a positive influence for the world by becoming a priest.

• What role do you think Buddhism plays in the structure of Atsumori’s storyline? Explain your answer. 

I think that the role of Buddhism in the structure of the play "Atsumori" is that there is reborn involved because priest Rensei was able to become a priest after committing the sin of killing someone in the battlefield and thus years later he meets with Atsumori's spirit and proves that he has become a whole new person and that he prays for the life he took which has a lot of Buddhist elements added to it when the chorus tells this part in the script.

Noh Reflection

• Discuss what you think the role of Buddhism is in the play Sotoba Komachi. How did you attempt to incorporate these ideals into your performance? 

I think that the role of buddhism in the play Sotoba Komachi is to incorporate the Shingon Buddhism doctrine which may have a direct connection to salvation. The only way that I attempted to incorporate this ideal into my performance was to change the tone when the script reach a part in which the Chorus needed to have a serious tone or scary tone. 

• Choose a two minute section that shows your contributions to the overall project.

I chose the section in the end when I am speaking loud and clear with the Chorus mainly because that was the only part in which he had a big impact since the other ones were just 30 second long.

• Describe what you did to develop the play for performance as exemplified in this section (try to include performance and production elements). Your research into Noh Theatre should be included in this response.

Based on the research I did about Noh (which wasn't very much since I was just doing costumes) my group tried to apply the use of costumes which had to be made from dyed silk and revealed which type of character each one was supposed to be. We also had to make sure that the costumes had a visual impact on the audience and thats something really important to keep in mind. Besides the costumes we also applied make-up which ended up being much easier than what I had read because at least two people were needed to put make-up on only one person but I think that for this play there was an exception because we did not go into full detail with the costumes. 

• Explain why your work on this project was important for it to be successful. 

Well, I had done research on costumes which was a special aspect of the Noh Theatre since it was going to have an impact for the audience because the materials used to make the costumes had to be gorgeously dyed silk and had to have a key which would tell what kind of character they were playing. In the Noh Theatre there is usually a variation of color for the costumes, but in this case we only used red and white.

• How did you adapt the performance due to resources and time? 

Well since we only had 2 classes to rehearse we had to improvise with the stage and we just taped the part of the stage which was going to be in use and put pillows where the chorus was going to be sitting down. We did not have time to memorize our dialogues so we used the scripts during the performance. Th only thing we had to practice was the sync between the 4 of us and the tone that we were using as some were talking louder than others. For the music we downloaded some tracks from the internet since there was no time to learn the songs and nobody in our group knew how to play an instrument very well. For the background we just used the projector to put a Noh picture and even though it was "almost" improvised we did a good job in the end.

• What conventions of Noh Theatre appeal to you as a practitioner? How might you use these in your work in the future?

For future use, I would definitely use the design of the stage again and the movement was really interesting as it leaves the audience hooked to whats going on in stage and the use of the chorus was something that I really liked because you get to hear the story from the other point of view or a little background about the character, also saying the lines at the same time was fun and kind of hard to say it in sync.

Childhood Story Reflection

1. How did it feel to watch your story being told by your partner? Did it feel respectful? Why/why not?

When Javier told my story, I felt that he was telling it the same way I told him and even implemented all the gestures I normally use. It felt respectful because he did not exaggerate in any aspect and did not include inappropriate material that could go out of context.

2. Did you recognize any of your classmates in the stories that were told?

The only classmates that I could recognize in the stories told were Garrett, Javier and Melanie.

3. Did it feel like the story “belonged” to the teller even though they were imitating another person?

For me, the story did not belong to the teller because the gestures made me immediately think that those are not who they are and just made me think the whole way that they were telling someone else’s story.

4. What changed about the story in the re-telling? What is lost and what is gained in the actor’s interpretation?

The only things that got lost in the re-telling is the influential factor that it felt weird seeing someone imitate another person and then telling their childhood story. The only thing gained is the way the way the story is told by another persona using a different tone.

5. What new understanding do you have about people in the class?

Many people in our class are able to imitate well other people and almost convince that the story could be their in a way.

6. What makes it feel safe to do this activity? What makes it feel unsafe?

It makes it safe that we get to hear the other person’s story and see the gestures that he normally uses before hand. It is unsafe to know that when the time comes, the person will try to alter to your story and exaggerate gestures to make them look funny.

7. Whose stories get told? Whose stories are hidden?

I did not understand what the questions asks, because we all presented a different story and nobody hid their true story.

8. What are the implications in telling someone else’s story when they are a different gender, race or ethnicity from you, the performer?

The implications involved are that depending on gender and race, the story may be taken out of context and it may have a different meaning. Hopefully this was not the case during this presentations

9. What is your responsibility when telling someone else’s story?

The responsibility that I take when telling someone’s story is that I can't mess up the gesture given and must remain with the same tone throughout the whole story without getting out of character.

10. How can truths be manipulated to create theatricality?

Truths can be over exaggerated in order to make the play more appealing and that the audience can have a good time.

11. What events are suitable topics?

Events that are suitable for this topic are: family reunions, a day at the beach and the first date.