elegant women, young child and even alpha males. When he originally displayed his work to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Zeami was portrayed a child actor in his play around the age of 12. Yoshimitsu thought very fondly of Zeami’s attributes, talents and innovative concepts of theater. He consequently started putting Zeami in his plays and started implementing the new concept of theatre – known as Noh. Zeami was the most influential piece of Noh’s development
Zeami Motokiyo, one of the best-known nō writers, is the author of Tadanori. The setting is in Suma during the season of autumn. Tadanori is considered a warrior play, shura mono, because the story deals with a warrior who died in battle. This, however, is the not the main focus of the drama. Due to his untimely death and the defeat of the Taira clan, Tadanori’s spirit lingers on in the world for wanting a poem to be in an imperial anthology with his name as the author. He struggles with this and
version as well. In the Japanese version there are probably more poetic devises which would be in the chorus singing and references to Ise Monogatari poems and excerpts. Works Cited Hare, Thomas B. (1986). Zeami's Style: The Noh Plays of Zeami Motokiyo. Standford, California: Stanford University Press. Tyler, Royall. (1992). Japanese no dramas. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
colorful with an assortment of masks and costumes carefully crafted to represent the character they represent (Noh). Many of the great plays written by playwright Zeami Motokiyo, the most highly regarded of all in the genre, inspired many and helped make noh a success (World 114). The great Noh drama Atsumori along with its writer Zeami helped define the Noh theater and make it popular in Japan even today. Japan in the 14th Century was a time when many influential groups struggled for political and
peoples’ attention to popular cultural upbringings; Noh’s success and popularity in its origin was largely due to patronage from shoguns (Tian 356). Shoguns Takauji and Yoshitsune were well-known supporters of Noh, and Yoshitsune was a close friend of Zeami himself (Wallace). Even into the Tokugawa period (1600-1867), Noh was the official entertainment of the samurai class, an honorable society in Japan (Magill 2422). These instances in Japan prove not only that culture and tradition have an effect on
authors. Matsukaze, or also known as Pining Wind, was written by Zeami Motokiyo (1363 – 1443) around 1412 and according to Tyler, “[t]he background of Pining Wind includes a play which is now lost, Shiokumi (‘Gathering Brine’)” by Kiami (Tyler 183). The nō play Nonomiya, or also known as The Wildwood Shrine, is believed by most people to have been written by Komparu Zenchiku (1405 – 1468), who is the son - in - law and apprentice to Zeami. Both Matsukaze and Nonomiya share a similar story line and