Many noh plays use the bare stage as is with no set or property. This allows the imagination of the audience to ‘fill in’, creating the setting for shifting scenes evoked in the text. In some plays, however, large and small props add an extra layer to the imagery of the text. The large properties, tsukurimono or ‘created objects’, are built of bamboo or wood frames that may be wrapped or covered in cloth and decorated with symbolic items, such as maple branches, as in the play Momijigari, or snow, as in the plays Hachinoki and Kazuraki. Tsukurimono are generally set on stage at the beginning of a performance or the beginning of the second ba (act) and removed after the actors have left at the end of the play. Small props (kodōgu), like the carts in the play Matsukaze or the spinning wheel in Kurozuka are set on the stage when needed, manipulated, and then removed after the scene is over. Hand-held props like fans, prayer beads, swords or halberds are discussed under costumes.
Contributor: Monica Bethe