Noh

Noh took its present form in the late 1300s and early 1400s. The actor Kan'ami and his son Zeami shaped it. Zeami wrote many of its most famous plays. He also wrote down much of the theory that still guides noh today. A noh stage is almost bare. It has a floor of polished wood, a pine tree painted on the back wall and a small group of musicians and chanters to one side. The lead actor often wears a carved wooden mask. He moves through the story in slow, precise steps, and sometimes he holds a single pose for what feels like a very long time. Nobody hurries. Kabuki loves loud conflict. Noh plays prefer themes of loss and memory, and of spirits caught between worlds.

Carvers make a noh mask so that it sits right on the edge of expression. It looks not quite happy and not quite sad. A small tilt of the actor's head can change how the whole face looks to the audience. Performers train for years to control this. Between the serious noh plays, a programme usually includes comic sketches called kyōgen. Their actors speak plain, everyday language, and the audience gets a little relief before the mood turns solemn again. Noh has never chased mass popularity the way kabuki has, and it does not try to. Today dedicated schools and family lines of actors keep it alive. So do audiences who come for its stillness, not in spite of it.