Bunraku

• large human like puppets that require multiple operators
• facial expressions
• smooth, human like movements
• chanter
• sings all of the songs
• says all the voices of the characters
• musician
• shamisen
• japanese lute
• Biwa
• original instrument that would be biwa
• played during chats in the eleventh century
• shamisen
• more harmonious and smoother
• sawazumi kenkyo or takino koto
• blind monks
• first switched
• old joruri
• kimpira
• violent satsuma joun
• Uji kaga no jo
• the bridge between old and new joruri
• structural changes
• New joruri
• takemoto gidayu
• opened a theatre in osaka in 1684
• focused more on the chanters
• three different roles
• head operator head and right hand
• left hand operator
• feet operator
• operators should be anonymous
• unnoticed
• merely and extension of the puppet
• kimonos and cotton padding used for the costumes
• affects puppet's movement
• male characters: cotton padding to create the stomach area, kimono is draped to make belly bulge out more
• female puppets: cotton to create the roundness of the bust and hips.
• hole in the back of the kimono for the puppeteers to control the head and legs
• puppet heads have special features
• puppet wigs are made out of human hair or animal hair
• 
  

Kyogen

• Both noh, through ti's persuit of a symbolic ideal beauty, and kyogen through it's realistic expression of humor, portray the true essence of human nature, and have been passed down to us today in these mutually complementary roles.
• Wild, precious words - kyogen
• developed alongside noh theatre
• over exaggerated movements
• themes: working class, the things that they go through in their day-to-day lives
• Morumachi period
• speech and dialect
• dishonesty, sympathy
• Zengaku entered japan during the nara period
• direct storyline and script used
• polished wood floor, raised from the audience
• any place on the stage can become a 'place'
• minimal props, no stage equipment, no fancy things
• backdrop of hand-painted pine trees
• Green room where the actor is in isolation and calmness before they go on stage
• announcement of who you are when you get up on stage
• movement styles - gliding walk
• your centre is the hara
• role of stillness, minimalism
• completely choreographed to perfection
• nowadays, you have a set of strict gestures
• all movement comes from a place of stillness
• dialogue is always done closer to the audience
• they don't use masks as much
• instead of masks they use make-up
• strict separation of actors and chorus.

the more i think the more i just want to sleep.

i really want to act

acting kinda frees you in a sense. the euphoric feeling you get is so addictive

this world faces the troubles that <> we face troubles in this world

theres so much hatred and anger, love can't really be real, and why does it even exist if it isn't gonna last

why do we exist if we're not gonna last

we all try to pitch in

to the big pit

of accomplishments when reaaly

wer'e just getting

closer and closer to

our

ends.

Tadashi Suzuki

• Revolutionary theatre practitioner
• no apprentices
• doesn't show people about his theories
• Suzuki company - Toga in Toyama Japan
• Writer of "The ways of Acting"
• Famous for directing classical work such as shakespearian plays
• Focus on mental and physical techniques on Suzuki's theories
• to act, one must have a point of view
• convey a point of view, from human behaviour and relationships
• once actors perceive this, they try to stimulate this by relating to the text
• By expanding the process of energy, you can make the centre of the body be the focus of your balance, on ur breathing abilities and such.
• more body awareness
• more movement
• Things that are invisible, they are working on
• all about coming back into the centre of things
• Lose yourself through fiction
• breathe trhough the nose
• understand the different ways in which teh feet contact the floor
• send energy through the floor onto the ground when stomping
• keep the upper body free but strong
• constant focus and awareness
• keep the lower body constantly engaged and powerful underneath the centre of gravity to support the breath and vocal instrument.
• The ten ways of walking: Stamping Shakuhachi
• move from the centre, no changes in direction
• no fixed path until the group comes together in a line
• Standing statues
• rising up from the floor, in the middle of stomping shakuhachi
• frozen poses
• sitting statues
• legs stretched out straight in the front
• Decrease in communication, decrease in theatrical appreciation
• non-places
• cultures can co-exist, with theatre and acting as it's bridge
• Dynamic locations
• wants actors to experience
• Audience and Actor Releationship
• wants to create the flow of communication
• wants actors to feel at home, and not feel threatened by outside factors
• Tale of King Lear
• Asian influence Globally
• Philosophy of Tadashi Suzuki
• 
  

Japanese Theatre NOtes

• Japanese theatre is a living theatre
• Amazing
• Passed down traditions from generation to generation
• bunraku, noh theatre, etc...
• In what ways are these forms reactions to traditional theatre?
• Apply it to non-traditional forms
• training forms
• Mishima Yukio
• produced 13 noh plays, in a modern theatre setting
• Single Sex Plays
• Kabuki theatre only started off with women
• Transformed into prostitution
• Wasn't about the plays anymore, it was about the nudity
• 1470 full-fledged theatre
• 14th century prior - literature, dance, artforms
• recognition of theatre form in art 
• all artforms became a part of theatre
• Characteristics
• text speaks itself - not ordinary dialogue
• fluid narrative stance - break the speeches up - not logical narrative story
• Aesthetics are key
• flexibility of time and space - time can be shifted to match the play - common sets used for symbolism - scenes are created with off-stage areas - Hanamichi ramp set runs into the audience
• centrality of form - movement, texts, costumes, music are not for pragmatic purposes - used for aesthetic purposes (as stated before in point 2) - Eg, old man traits are represented by taking the most beautiful aspects of old men and showing them
• Concealing of the tearful eye
• Bunraku - weekping puppets bite sleeves (shaking) to show crying
• Kakegi
• Recognition through widespread use - musical patterns
• The people Vary speed, timing, intensity, design, colour
• Mastery of form and training
• Question of interpretation - you have to go a long way before you can do this
• To rehearse at the very end - Kabuki
• Form diminishes interest in verisimilitude - The element or aspects of reality that you evoke through the actions of reality. - Eg, good sci-fi writers are good at verisimilitude (random things that are made)
• Intensity of intertexuality
• theatrical mechanics of theatre
• Originality Vs Traditional form
• Traditional japanese theatre is where fluid transitions between time space character...
• Traditional japanese theatre is presentational theatre vs representational theatre
• 
  

<<>>>><>>><><>> the more i start thinking about everything the worse i feel >?> abou u  t everything

how did Jesus stay sane

Presentation NOtes

George:

Use of projections on back walls
Video clips of war, life, youtube videos all in the background
Human perception
4 actors
Each have a neutral mask on

Georgia:
Levels of elevation have correlation with the levels of sadness

Emma:
Focusing on the image of a circle
Commedia and Talchum
Masks are shaped looking upwards

Sabrina:
based on the only tribe
temperature-sensitive paint - white to black - to show the corruption in the only tribe
really long dress for the significant character

Austin:
"who is truly blind?"

Joel:
masks with no meaning
nobody is truly distinctive

Samuel:
'solitude'
-great story.

Justin:
cavemen age
very 'gutteral'
in the woods
somewhere with a cave


Christian:
My mask performance is based on the reality of love, and how that can change a person for the worse. the dancers are trying to find each other through the whole dance, and the dancers that start in the water can only stay in the water, while the dry dancers are trying to avoid it.