Noh
/nəʊ
/(also No)
noun [mass noun]
Traditional Japanese masked drama with dance and song, evolved from Shinto rites: a Noh play...
- What is most surprising in the film is Ono's voice, which not only mimics the whine of a fly in flight but also, according to Munroe, echoes the sound of the flute that punctuates every dramatic fluctuation in traditional Japanese Noh drama.
- In modern Japan, directors like Ninagawa and Suzuki have tapped the energies underlying theatrical traditions of Noh and Kabuki to make Shakespeare texts seem both contemporary and international.
- The Japanese Noh was a drama of soliloquy and reminiscence, rather than one of conflict, in which the actor's stylized movements and stamping provided a rhythmic accompaniment to his narrative, with subjects taken from myth and legend.
Noh dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, and its subject matter is taken mainly from Japan’s classical literature. Traditionally the players were all male, with the chorus playing a passive narrative role.
Origin
Japanese.