Paper short abstract:

Students were guided step by step through the process of devising a noh play, working from their own storyline. Their understanding of the complex conventions of noh composition, and the reasons for them, increased due to the close interaction with master performers and their own direct input.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the second of two workshops designed to present mugennō (phantasmal noh) to undergraduates in Japanese Studies. These workshops were integrated with the Japanese language noh project leading up to the "Passion in Stillness" tour. While the first workshop centred on the performance of scenes from the traditional repertoire, "experiencing mugennō" aimed to teach students about the composition of noh plays and offered experiential learning based on material they themselves had suggested.

In preparation for the workshop, students received a template from noh master Takeda Munenori outlining the structure of a mugennō play, then worked in groups to summarize, using modern Japanese, a story they considered suitable for dramatization in this form. The workshop organizers had expected their suggestions to feature British/non-Japanese characters and locations, but Yami no Hana, the story selected for the workshop, was set at the site where Honnōji once stood, with Akechi Mitsuhide's ghost as its nochishite. Takeda therefore began the workshop by introducing Japanese attitudes to Akechi as a historical figure and speculating on how audiences might respond to the students' version of the story. He gave an illustrated explanation of the process he had used to adapt their synopsis to the classical language of noh, emphasising the importance of drawing also on the "vocabulary" of kata as set patterns of movement with prescribed functions. After a "work-in-progress" demonstration performance, students learned to sing lines from the script in the classical noh style and to perform the kata adopted to bring the text to life.

Students benefited from this session because they were directly involved in both devising and performing the story, and gained insight into all stages of process as they were guided through it. The discipline of noh was exercised first in the requirement to follow a formalized structure for their synopsis in modern Japanese, then in learning the musical and choreographic patterns to contribute to its performance. They acquired a sharper awareness of the complex conventions involved in writing and performing for noh, and of the versatility that ensures its continued relevance in contemporary Japan.