Paper short abstract:

Noh written by Zeami are performed by all five schools today. This presentation raises the question how the transmission of noh plays was organized. It aims at showing how Zeami revised plays written by other authors and why this practice of reorganizing and rewriting plays ceased after his death.

Paper long abstract:

Noh plays written by Zeami (1364?-?) are performed by all five schools even though not all schools are historically related to Zeami. That the plays are part of the Kanze, Hōshō and Komparu school repertoires appears logic: The Kanze school can be traced back to the family line of Zeami's nephew; the Hōshō to the lineage of Zeami's uncle; the Komparu school to his son-in-law Zenchiku. Nevertheless, the presumably unrelated Kongō and Kita schools, the latter split from the Kongō troupe in the Edo period, also perform Zeami's original plays. Even during Zeami's time, when each troupe probably had its own distinct repertoire, Zeami often performed works from other troupes, which he even revised for his performance. On the other hand, Zeami's and his son Motomasa's plays were even performed by troupes with a completely different genealogy such as the Yada troupe (Tanba sarugaku).

This raises the question how the transmission of plays was organized. This presentation aims at showing how Zeami revised plays written by other authors and why this practice of reorganizing and rewriting plays ceased after his death. For this two plays and their respective revisions during Kan'ami's and Zeami's time will be analysed: "Kayoi komachi" attributed to Komparu Gonnokami from the Komparu troupe (Yamato sarugaku) and "Kashiwazaki" written by Saemon Gorō from the Enami troupe (Kawachi sarugaku).