The mounting of a nō performance relies on a wide range of conventions: from the underlying structure of a play to the set rules for costuming and mask choice, the pre-choreographed movement, and the building block patterns of song, drumming and gesture. Despite this apparently ridged form, wide variation in types of plays and performance can be found. Standard categorization today classifies plays by the type of shite character: deity, warrior, woman, etc. Here, special pages are also devoted to the prominent actor-playwrights Zeami and Nobumitsu, both of whom were instrumental in formulating the styles of dream (mugen) nō and theatrical (furyū) nō respectively.
- Costumes
- Musicians
- Narratives
- Nobumitsu
- Nobumitsu’s plays
- Performers
- Play structures
- Plays and Playwrights
- Repertory categorization
- Shōdan
- Use of the stage
- Waki kata
- Zeami’s plays
Contributor: Monica Bethe