Japan vs the Medieval (Blog #3)

Passion plays were around from the 14th century to the 16th century. These plays were about the life of Christ, often performing famous scenes from Christ's life. These plays occurred only about once a year and were performed by the towns people, often members from guilds. Passion plays were set up almost like an amusement park, having different parts of the "park" for different scenes. Despite the fact that this annual play was about Christ, the Church did not approve because it felt that these plays defiled the sacredness and holiness of the Church. Starting from the 17th century to present time, the people of Oberammergau, Germany have consistently performed these plays only in years ending in 0.

Passion plays were strictly about scenes from the life of Christ

The skald is a poet who also plays the harp or lyre, the skald does all the voices for an epic narrative or poem. The Germanic people loved to be entertained by performances of heroic deeds and of warrior tribes like themselves. These performances were provided by the king or chief of the tribe, in entertaining his aristocrats he was also honoring them. Skaldic performances also revolved around violence and were about competition for women and treasures. Though the tribes later converted to Christianity, Christian themes were absent from Skaldic plays and in later times there were many conflicts about control for land and people between Kings and the Church.

Skalds were often equipped with harps and sung songs while playing them.

Noh theater in Japan was very similar to the Greeks in that they were both tragic works with a humorous element. The set up of Noh theater was very strict, just like the Greeks. Women were not allowed to perform, all actors were male, even for female characters. More than two actors on stage was rare, but the musicians and choir were always present. These stories were focused around ghosts and ancient spirits. The Noh stage is surrounded by the audience and the musicians, open on three sides. Masks are only worn by older male actors and are only to be used in acting as an old man, a youth, a woman, or a supernatural character.

Kabuki theater was believed to be created in the 17th century by women who wanted to become actors, in a "no women actors" time period. This type of theater performs for huge, diverse audiences. Kabuki theater is very exciting and filled with action; there are flashing lights, acrobats, singers, scene shifts, stunning costumes, and even more. Even though believed to be created by women, all actors in Kabuki theater are male. Instead of masks being worn like traditional theater, masks are painted.

One of the biggest differences between Medieval and Japanese theater is the theme of the story. Japanese theater revolved their stories about ghosts and romance, while Medieval theater stories were about heroic triumphs and great feats. Japanese theater still is very alive today and is very popular, often with sold out crowds. Most of the types of Medieval theater have clashed with the Church, thus not being able to survive for long periods of time.

http://www.artelino.com/articles/noh_theater.asp

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/drama.html

http://www.csuohio.edu/class/history/japan/japan12.html

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/medieval.htm