Noh Theater

This was my first time watching a Noh performance. After a good amount of searching, I happened to come upon this clip. To be frank, I did not understand the performance at all. It seemed pretty cool and all, but it would have been a lot better if I had understood what was actually going on.

During the performance, I noticed the musicians in the backdrop of the stag. The ensemble was composed mostly of drummers on the left side of the stage. The drummers controlled the pace of the whole performance. The nohkan player was the lone aerophone present in the hayashi. However, it played a crucial role in the performance by allowing the audience to get lost in its notes. There was also a male chorus group somewhere there. I wasn't sure if it was the guys on the right side of the stage but I know I definitely heard so kind of chanting.

It was very hard to see the make-up on the actors faces so I can't really describe it really well. I see that they use a lot of white powder and the actors have a very emotionless face throughout the performance. I didn't/ couldn't see any expression on their faces. Their movements were slow and restrained throughout the performance. I didn't really get what was going on but I thought it was pretty cool to watch. Their movements were synchronized with the ensemble which I thought was interesting.

Overall, I thought this was a good thing to see. I may not know much about noh theater but I can still appreciate it.