Traditional Asian Theater

MUSIC 8 – FOURTH QUARTER

Peking Opera
China

Beijing
The Peking Opera House
• China’s National Opera

• Originated in the late

18th century
• Synthesis of music,
dance, art, and acrobatics
• Known for acrobatic
fighting
• Costumes come from
Ming dynasty no matter
what time setting.
Make-up
Stage set up
Japan

Noh
Theater
Noh Theater in Japan
• Came of age in the 14th century
• Buddhist monks used it as a teaching tool
• Performed on a simple, almost bare stage and like
classical Greek tragedy, uses only two actors and
chorus
• Tone tends to be serious
• Many short plays together in an evenings
entertainment
Zeami –
the Father of Noh
Theater
Kabuki Theater
Kabuki Theater
of Japan
• Over 400 years old
• Originated as middle
class theater
• Actors do not speak
• Narrator describes the
scene, comments on
the action, and even
speaks portions of the
dialogue
Cont.

• Originally performed by
all female cast
• Government forbid
women on stage
• Make-up very important
• Melodramas centered
around climactic
moments as opposed to
plots
Bunraku