Download Objectives

Early Asian Theatre
Objectives
After studying the chapter, the student should be able to:
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Identify the conventions of Sanskrit drama.
Compare and contrast theatre in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties in China.
Compare and contrast noh and kabuki.
Identify the conventions of bunraku.
Identify the conventions of shadow plays in Southeast Asia.
Lecture Topics
How are dance and music used in noh and kabuki performances?
How did kabuki emerge?
How are shadow plays staged?
Discussion Topics
What are the two types of noh plays?
How are puppets manipulated in bunraku?
What role did women play in theatre during the Yuan period in China?
What was Li Yu’s contribution to Chinese theatre?
How are noh actors trained?
Multiple-Choice
Please choose the answer that best completes each sentence.
1. ______________________________, wrote Shakuntala, an acknowledged
masterpiece of Indian drama.
A. Dushyanta
*B. Kalidasa
C. Natyasastra
D. Kathakali
2. __________________________________was China’s first important critic; he argued
that a playwright should write clearly, with a mass audience in mind.
A. Manchu
B. Okuni
C. Dushyanta
*D. Li Yu
3. The greatest work of Indian dramatic criticism is the __________________________.
A. Shakuntala
B. Vikrama
*C. Natyasastra
D. Agnimitra
4. The most important figure in the history of Japanese noh theatre is:
A. Lady Murasaki
*B. Zeami Motokiyo
C. Motomasa
D. Onnagata Okuni
5. ___________________________is credited with developing kabuki.
*A. Okuni of Izumo
B. Chikamatsu Monzaemon
C. Zeami Motokiyo
D. Li Yu
6. Male actors who play women’s characters in Kabuki theatre are called:
A. Chushingura
*B. Onnagata
C. Hanamichi
D. Kamogawa
7. Dance drama presented at night by torchlight is known as:
A. Natyasastra
B. Kalidasa
*C. Kathakali
D. hanamichi
8. The “flower way” which connects the rear of the auditorium with the stage in kabuki
theatre is known as:
*A. hanamichi
B. natyasastra
C. kalidasa
D. bunraku
9. The puppet theatre of Japan is known as:
A. kalidasa
B. Sanksrit drama
C. waki
*D. bunraku
10. A Southeast Asian play which uses flat puppets made of leather is known as:
A. Natyasastra
B. Sanksrit drama
*C. Shadow play
D. hanamichi
11. Under the direction of ________________________, the noh theatre became the
dominant form of serious theatre in his generation.
A. Li Yu
B. Shite
*C. Zeami
D. Chikamatsu
12. The bridge in noh theatre which connects the stage and the mirror room is known as
the:
A. Tomo
*B. Hashigakari
C. Hayashi
D. Ai-Kyogen
13. Bharata Muni wrote __________________________, an Indian treatise on the
performing arts.
A. The Mahabarata
B. Ramayana
C. Kalidaasa
*D. Natyasastra
14. Chikamatsu was the first writer for the ______________________ puppet theatre.
*A. bunraku
B. hashigakari
C. noh
D. soggetto
15. Similar to a Greek choregus, the Sanskrit theatre had a leader known as the:
*A. sudtradhara
B. natyasastra
C. shakuntala
D. kathakali
16. The early development of theatre in China was linked to:
A. the peasant class
B. the samurai class
*C. the imperial class
D. the middle class
17. The _____________ was an acting school, which flourished in early eighth century
China.
A. Taohaus
*B. Pear Garden
C. Nanxi
D. Zaju
18. Which of the following is true of theatre in the Yuan Period?
A. Professional actors performed women’s roles.
B. Professional actresses played men’s roles.
C. Most stages are thought to have been built for outdoor use.
*D. All of the above
19. Noh characters were generally based on:
*A. literary or historical characters
B. contemporary political figures
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
20. The main character in noh is the:
A. waki
*B. shite
C. tsure
D. sheng
21. Comic elements from noh developed into a separate form called:
A. bunraku
B. joruri
C. hashigakari
*D. kyōgen
22. The chief instrument accompanying the character in bunraku is the:
A. joruri
B. sheng
*C. shamisen
D. tsure
23. The number of people used to manipulate important characters in bunraku is:
A. one
B. two
*C. three
D. none
24. Danjuro I began a bravura acting style in kabuki known as:
*A. aragato
B. annagata
C. hanamichi
D. kyōgen
25. ______________ is a term used to describe a type of theatre that synthesizes acting,
mime, dancing, music, and text.
A. Melodrama
*B. Total theater
C. Mimesis
D. Natyasastra
True/False
Please choose whether the statement is true or false.
26. The typical theater for Sanskrit drama seated about seventeen thousand audience
members.
True
*False
27. The general public did not understand and support the earliest Sanskrit plays.
*True
False
28. Under Islamic rule in India, educated people no longer maintained performance
traditions.
*True
False
29. Traveling theatrical troupes were forbidden during the Song Dynasty in China.
True
*False
30. Scholars have compared the theatre of the Yuan Dynasty to that of fifth century B.C.E.
Greece and Elizabethan England.
*True
False
31. Well-known, powerful people disdained early Japanese noh theatre.
True
*False
32. Actresses played leading roles in Zeami’s noh theatre.
True
*False
33. The noh tradition, passed on from teacher to disciple, has been carried on to this day.
*True
False
34. Chikamatsu is the world’s only major dramatist to write primarily for a puppet
theatre.
*True
False
35. At least half of the current kabuki repertory was adapted from the puppet theatre.
*True
False
Essays/Activities
36. Sketch ground plans for the noh and kabuki theaters, labeling the principal areas of
each.
37. How does early Asian theatre differ from Western theatre as you know it? Use one
example from early Asian theatre and one from classical Greek, Roman, or Medieval
theatre in your essay.