Takase: Fine Japanese Calligraphy

V. THE MAKING OF A NOH PROGRAMME

Photograph of a pale mask on a dark ground: dark hair parted down the middle with a light line at the top, narrow eyes, a small nose and dark lips, slightly open. — Mask of middle-aged woman
(*Syakumi*)

The formal programme of the Noh plays usually consists of five pieces, but nowadays a programme of three pieces is also in vogue. It is recorded that in former times a programme of seven or even more was sometimes presented.

A full programme consisting of five pieces should be arranged in the following order:

1 The “God Piece”

2 The “Battle Piece”

3 The “Woman Piece”

4 The “Lunatic Piece,” the “Revenge Piece” or the “Earthly Piece”

5 The “Last Piece.”

Following the above order, for instance, a spring programme might consist of (1) Takasago, (2) Tamura, (3) Tōboku, (4) Sumida-gawa or Ataka, (5) Huna-Benkei. But this order need not necessarily be followed. It can, to some extent, be altered as occasion

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Photograph taken beside a wooden railing at the edge of a stage: a masked figure in a tall pointed hat and a stiff pale robe with a round pattern stands at the back left with one arm raised, and in the foreground two seated figures in robes with a pale angular pattern sit with their backs partly to the viewer. A thick wooden pillar stands at the left, with a crowd of spectators beyond it behind a white partition, and several men in dark clothes sit at the right of the stage. — *Okina* (The Ancient Man)

demands. For example, Sumida-gawa being originally a play about a mad woman should be in the fourth group, but because her part must be performed with a measure of grace, it may be regarded as a kind of the “Woman Piece” and put in the third group. Again, Ataka, being a realistic Noh, should be placed in the fourth group, but it could also be placed in the second in place of a “Battle Piece.” However, the order of the plays in the programme is governed by a fundamental rule, that is the “Theory of Jo, Ha and Kyū.” “Jo” means the initial part, “Ha” the middle part, and “Kyū” the final part. The initial part is to be represented solemnly and powerfully; the middle part finely and delicately; the final part briefly and rapidly. The middle part is the substance of the programme and the longest. The following is a programme consisting of

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Photograph against a plain gray ground of a standing figure in a long, loose dark robe over a pale garment, with a cloth wrapped over the head into points on top, a dark face with a short beard, a long thin staff slanting down in the hand at the viewer's left, and a string of beads hanging at the waist. — *Turi-gitune*, a Kyōgen (an old
fox changing himself into
an old monk)

Photograph against a plain gray ground of a figure kneeling in a thick shaggy dark costume with a hood and a long tail with a pale tip, turned toward the viewer's left and wearing a mask of an animal's head with pointed ears, a long snout and bared teeth; one hand is raised beside the snout and a pale tuft shows at the other. — *Turi-gitune*, a Kyōgen
(“after” scene)

five pieces made in accordance with the theory:

I. The “Jo”

the “God Piece”

II. The “Ha”

the “Battle Piece”

the “Woman Piece”

the “Lunatic Piece”

the “Revenge Piece”

or the “Earthly Piece”

III. The “Kyū”

the “Last Piece.”

In a really formal programme consisting of five pieces a piece called Okina (The Ancient Man), which is regarded as the most sacred play, is placed first, and a short final congratulatory piece, for instance, Iwa-hune (The Stone Boat) or Kinsatu (The Gold Charm) comes last. A full programme is thus completed.

There are various ways of making up a programme

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Photograph of men in dark robes with wide shoulder cloths sitting in a row on a low stage in front of a painted pine on a wooden wall, with bamboo painted at the right; the man at the left holds a small round drum at his hip and the second raises a drum with cords to his shoulder. — Musicians on the Noh stage

consisting of three pieces, but the programme most commonly adopted consists of either (1) the “Battle Piece,” (2) the “Woman Piece,” (3) the “Last Piece,” excluding the “God Piece,” and the “Lunatic Piece,” or (1) the “Earthly Piece,” (2) the “Woman Piece,” (3) the “Last Piece.” But there are many other ways of programme building.

It is the custom in the Noh performance to place the Kyōgen (the Comediettas) between the Noh plays, that is to say, a Noh programme of five pieces contains three Kyōgen, and that of three pieces contains one or two Kyōgen. The Kyōgen is meant to remove or relieve the emotional stress of the Noh, just as a satyric play was always used for the same purpose in the ancient Greek tragedies.