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Kyogen (Japanese: 狂言 Kyōgen, literally "mad words" or "wild speech") is a form of traditional Japanese theater. It developed alongside noh, was performed along with noh as an intermission of sorts between noh acts, and retains close links to noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated noh-kyogen. However, its content is not at all similar to the formal, symbolic, and solemn noh theater; kyogen is a comical form, and its primary goal is to make its audience laugh. For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed...
Noh performance at Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Noh or No (Japanese: 能 Nō) is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. ...
History Kyogen is thought to derive from a form of Chinese entertainment that was brought to Japan around the 8th century. This entertainment form became known as sarugaku and initially encompassed both serious drama and comedy. By the 14th century, these forms of sarugaku had become known as noh and kyogen, respectively.
Kyogen provided a major influence on the later development of kabuki theater. After the earlier, more ribald forms of kabuki had been outlawed in the mid-17th century, the government permitted the establishment of the new yarō-kabuki (men's kabuki) only on the grounds that it refrain from the previous kabuki forms' lewdness and instead model itself after kyogen. The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ...
Noh had been the official entertainment form of the Edo period, and was therefore subsidized by the government. Kyogen, performed in conjunction with noh, also received the patronage of the government and the upper class during this time. Following the Meiji Restoration, however, this support ceased. Without government support, noh and kyogen went into decline, as many Japanese citizens gravitated toward the more "modern" Western art forms. In 1879, however, then-President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, while touring Japan, expressed an interest in the traditional art of noh. They became the first Americans to witness noh and kyogen plays and are said to have enjoyed the performance. Their approval is believed to have sparked a revival of interest in these forms 1 (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/11/prweb182046.htm). History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese...
The Meiji Restoration (明治維新; Meiji Ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japans political and social structure. ...
1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Ulysses Simpson Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American Civil War general and the 18th (1869–1877) President of the United States. ...
In modern Japan, kyogen is performed both separately and as a part of noh. Its traditions are maintained primarily by family groups, especially the Izumi and Okura schools.
Elements of Kyogen As with noh and kabuki, all kyogen actors, including those in female roles, are men. Kyogen plays are invariably brief, and often contain only two or three roles, which are often stock characters. Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ...
A stock character is a fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. ...
Movements and dialogue in kyogen are typically very exaggerated, making the action of the play easy to understand. Elements of slapstick or satire are present in most kyogen plays. Some plays are parodies of actual Buddhist or Shinto religious rituals; others are shorter, more lively, simplified versions of noh plays, many of which are derived from folktales. Slapstick is a type of comedy involving physical action. ...
Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...
Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...
A torii at Itsukushima Shrine Shintō (Japanese: 神道) is the native religion of Japan and was the state religion of Japan for Japanese militarism in times from about end of the 19th century to the end of World War II. It involves the worship of kami, which could be translated...
Japanese mythology is an extremely complex religion and system of beliefs. ...
Kyogen is performed to the accompaniment of music, especially the flute, drums, and gong. However, the emphasis of kyogen is on dialogue and action, rather than on music or dance.
Actors in kyogen, unlike those in noh, typically do not wear masks, unless the role is that of an animal (such as a tanuki or kitsune), or that of a god. Consequently, the masks of kyogen are less numerous in variety than noh masks. Both masks and costumes are simpler than those characteristic of noh. Few props are used, and minimal or no stage sets. Binomial name Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834) A raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a member of the canid family and is considered to be a species of dog although they are often confused with raccoons and badgers. ...
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, most specifically the Japanese red fox (Vulpes vulpes japonica). ...
References - Brandon, James R. Nō and Kyōgen in the Contemporary World. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.
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