Last weekend, me being the occasional culture vulture, we went to see a Noh play.
Noh is a kind of sylized Japanese art-form that is part play, part traditional music, which relates a story using about four or five actors, along with musicians and a chorus. It dates from the 14th century, which explains my first problem with Noh… had no idea what they were talking about. Not just me, even the Japanese around me were checking their translations. Thing is of course, the more you read the translation (at my reading speed anyway), the less you see of the action.
By far the strangest part was the music – it’s sort of an atonal collection of whoops from the chorus, to not-entirely challenging drumming from the musician, though there is a kind of badly tuned flute too. And the dancing – well all I can say is, well…. watch!
Actually this video is a bit more lively that what I watched. The one I watched was only semi-professional: kind of the Cotswold Players of the Noh world.
I love Japan, I’ve read more books about the culture and history than I can count. But Noh lost me. I was more confused leaving than I had been coming in! I don’t want to criticise, or seem like a philistine but I have to say… I don’t get it!
