Atsumori: Behind the Scenes

The NUS Department of Japanese Studies and Theatre Nohgaku (in collaboration with the Kita School of Noh) created this video to showcase some of the rarely-seen behind-the-scenes production of the famous noh play Atsumori. The play is attributed to the medieval noh practitioner Zeami Motokiyo (1363 – 1443). There are three parts to the video:

The first part “Dressing the shite in Atsumori” introduces introduces a conventional way of dressing the protagonist in warrior plays, here the shite Atsumori. In this segment, viewers are guided through the laborious process of dressing the protagonist (shite) in a noh play – the narrator John Ogleeve, founding member of Theatre Nohgaku, is himself a licensed noh performer. His insightful and detailed comments provide fresh perspectives for any noh audience, seasoned or otherwise, to learn about noh.

Shite: Teruhisa Oshima
Front dresser: Sadamu Omura
Back dresser: Hiroyuki Awaya
Narrator/Camera: John Ogleeve

The second part “Atumori: Maibayashi in Mask and Costume” is a Maibayashi performance from the kuse to the finale segments of Atsumori by Kita School noh actors and musicians on the Ikedayama noh stage in Tokyo. Noh plays are structured based on segments (dan); in this Maibayashi performance the smaller segments of the play are identified and explained. The English narration and subtitle accompanying the chanting allow better understanding of the play.

Shite: Oshima Teruhisa
Otsuzumi: Okura Eitaro
Kotsuzuki: Omura Kayu
Fue: Richard Emmert
Chorus leader: Omura Sadamu
Chorus: Awaya Hiroyuki
Producer, camera, editor: John Ogleeve

The third part shows the performance of the kuse segment of Atsumori, performed by Kita School noh actors. This is similar to the kuse segment in the second part, except the performance is in English. Theatre Nohgaku has performed many newly created noh (Shinsaku noh) and translated some current canonical noh plays into English. This last part of the video is an excellent illustration of what a translated noh play sounds like – together with the subtitles provided, viewers are able to learn about the diction and versatile nature of the noh theatre.

Shite: Omura Sadamu
Chorus leader: Richard Emmert
Chorus: John Ogleeve
Performance translation: David Crandall

Comments and questions? Please send them in to Associate Professor Lim Beng Choo at: [email protected]