The standard nō repertory performed today was set in the Edo period (1603-1868) and includes around 250 plays, although the exact number differs by nō acting school (ryūgi). Almost all of these nō were created sometime between the 14th and early 16th centuries. While a few great playwrights are known, such as Kan’ami, Zeami, and Zenchiku, the majority of the plays in today’s repertory have uncertain or no attribution.
Play themes include miraculous encounters with deities; the recollection of moments of intense love, strife, mistreatment, or vengeance; loyalty; family tragedies; and demon vanquishing. The highly structured texts combine passages in poetry and prose. Since the texts are rendered entirely in recitation or song, the various types of metrics are c8losely tied to the styles of vocalization, and a seamless transition from stylized speech to modulated chant, from free verse to strictly metered song, is reflected in the overall composition of the plays.
Playwrights were performers: the plays they created emerged from their performance experience, and both text and performance traditions were passed down together through the generations of performers. With the publication of nō texts in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and a growing number of amateur practitioners and patrons of nō, nō texts (yōkyoku) with their beautiful poetry and allusive imagery came to be read as literature. This section focuses on the literary aspects of nō.
Contributor: Monica Bethe