BA World Performance Students ‘from page to stage’ Project Work - Learning from the Art of Noh
East 15 Acting School, University of Essex
BA World Performance Students, East 15 Acting School, University of Essex
The Between the Stones project, ‘Getting to Noh’ education and outreach programme included a four-day workshop and project for BA World Performance Students from East 15 Acting School at the University of Essex. This student project came at the end of Between the Stones, Phase 1 period (in early 2019) and was undertaken by the author, Jannette Cheong, supported by the Deputy Head of BA World Performance, Margaret Coldiron.
What is noh?
After introducing students to some key aspects of noh: its history and the relationship of its form to concepts such as ‘essence and function’, ‘less is more’, ‘jo-ha-kyu’ and the how noh relates to ‘space, place and time’. The students were introduced to how these concepts related to the music, role-playing, and language (especially the poetic structures) used in noh.
Student project brief
The students were given the following brief to enable them to begin the process of developing their own original work:
Working in groups, students were asked to:
Write & perform a ‘short music drama’ (max 10 mins duration) of either a travel song (michiyuki) or central song (kuse)
Use the theme: Finding beauty, peace and love from tragic loss (the same theme used in Jannette’s new noh, Between the Stones)
Use some key noh elements/concepts: ‘less is more’, ‘essence & function’, ‘poetic structures’ & ‘jo-ha-kyu’ applied to their role play, language & music.
Students would not be able to learn how to perform noh in 4 days (as it takes many years to learn these skills), nor would they be able to write a whole noh piece in the time available without a much more detailed study and understanding of the structure of noh or sections of the play. However, we felt it was possible to teach some of the key concepts that underpin noh and then for the students to use their own imaginations, stories, and cultural experiences to create something that could draw these aspects together into a new inter-cultural creative experience.
We felt the students would be able to take what they had learned about noh, even over a short period of time, and create a deeply meaningful piece based on a story to which they felt strongly connected - a story of their own time. The importance of asking the students to consider the dramatic arc of the whole story through the writing of a synopsis strengthened their engagement with the story and enabled them to use this when considering both the form and function of either the ‘michiyuki’ or ‘kuse’.
The ‘kuse’ created for Amna is an example of the excellent work produced by the students in the short time available.
Story Synopsis
Amna (Peace)
Following her dying mother’s request, Amna journeys to a place close to the border where her mother was to rejoin her father, to bury a necklace in memory of the love shared by her parents. When Amna was a baby, her parents had to flee their country as a result of war and political unrest. They decided to escape to a neighbouring country, but crossing the border was dangerous. Fearing they might be separated on the way, they agreed they would meet at a specific spot on the other side of the border fence and wait for each other. Amna and her mother made it to the spot safely, but her father was shot as he was struggling to climb over the fence with others.
When Amna arrives at the place described by her mother she realises it is at the edge of the desert. She meets a gravedigger whose job had been to bury the bodies of those who never made it across the border. As he recalls the past to Amna a huge sandstorm begins. The gravedigger guides her to a place of shelter before disappearing into the blinding sand. The next day Amna returns to the place where she is to bury the necklace, only to find her father’s spirit waiting for her.
He recounts how his spirit has roamed the border and the place where he was supposed to meet his family searching for his family among the victims of war. Over the years the war claimed many victims and as he searched among the bodies he would cover them with sand to lay them peacefully to rest. But he longed to know what had happened to his family.
When Amna arrived to bury the necklace, his spirit was reunited with his family. Reassured of his daughter’s safety and future - finally he, too, was able to rest in peace.
‘Sandstorm’ central song (the kuse):
Developing the story of ‘Amna’ (which means ‘peace’ in Arabic)
‘The refugee crisis was an important topic of news at the time. We felt it was impossible for us to let it escape our minds while working on this project. It also seemed to fit perfectly with the theme of ‘tragic loss’ which had been given to us as a starting point for the project.
During the workshops we discussed different Noh plays and learned that there is often a ‘spirit’ character bound to a certain place due to some unresolved emotional matter. However, when a living person, somehow related to the spirit character, visits this place the spirit is able to reveal their true ‘spirit’ self and find a resolution that releases their troubled spirit.
We all agreed that there was such beauty in this concept that we felt compelled to apply this to the story of Amna’s father’s death. Interestingly, when we were developing the storyline initially, the focus had been mainly on the family’s journey and the death of Amna’s father. However, as we tried to integrate the concept of the spirit, we realised the story wasn’t about his death anymore but about Amna’s new and bright chances in life that were only possible because of her parents’ bravery.
The structure allowed us to develop the story so that it is not about loss per se, but about the beauty and hope that followed - which enabled us to fulfil the whole brief: ‘finding beauty, peace and love from tragic loss’ and therefore added a whole new layer to the initial storyline.’
Student project background information
To help the students understand how stories are developed into new noh ‘from page to stage’ Jannette also shared with the students how her own stories had been developed and structured into new noh pieces.
The students were also given an introduction to the key characteristics of a travel song (michiyuki) and a central song (kuse):
Travel Song (michiyuki)
michiyuki - (‘road going’ segment, a type of ageuta).
begins in the upper register and ends in the lower, generally written in two sections
follows the nanori as part of Act 1, scene 1
sets out where the traveller has come from, where they are going, some of the deeper reasons/meaning of the journey, how they get there and their arrival.
uses a 7 & 5 metre and ‘melodic’ style.
Central song (kuse)
a central poetic segment
one of the most distinctive sections of a play (sung by the chorus, as the main actor dances)
drum/flute patterns - matched rhythm without taiko (can be a more dynamic music style)
chorus often singing what is in the mind of the shite (main actor)
main actor sings a line in the middle
generally no metre, and is an emotional highpoint.
The students also watched the kuse example below, from Jannette’s first noh play: Pagoda.
Project feedback
“I was astonished at what truly passionate, clear and moving work Jannette was able to draw from my World Performance students in her project on Noh: From Page to Stage. As both a scholar and lover of Noh I wanted my students to be able to engage with this exceptional art form, but I worried that the challenges of grasping both the Noh aesthetic and the structure of Noh plays might be more than could be accomplished in just a few days. However, Jannette’s careful management of the tasks required provided the students with the tools they needed to create some marvellous pieces that used Noh and their own ideas and experiences to create six exceptional poetic performances. I hope that we can repeat the project with more time that will allow the students to go even further. The project has won over this group to Noh and many want to go on to pursue deeper study of the form, while others are finding it a useful tool in their own creative work as playwrights and theatre-makers.
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“Q: Which aspects of the Getting to Noh project made the greatest impression on you and why?
Student response1: The reading of Jannette’s poetry as it was very emotionally captivating and it made me connect to Noh more as I could actually enjoy the poetic side of it through language accessible to me. Also, the project was very well structured, consequently the whole process was very easy to follow.
Student response 2: The writing of the script - I was unfamiliar with how they were meant to be formatted (for example, the journey song maps out key geographical points), so it was interesting to learn how these were created. The poetry that can come out of this is quite inspiring.
Student response 3: The Jo-Ha-Kyu structure is powerful in creating and sustaining action and has also been useful in other modules such as playwriting.
Q: What aspects of the project development have you most enjoyed and why?
Student response 1: The part in which the story and poetry were created. In a fairly short time and by use of “deadlines” the groups managed to come up with a story quite quickly which allowed us plenty of time trying to fit the story into the Noh form which I found very interesting and enjoyable. Getting to know the form and trying to understand the place of the characters within the form gave me a new perspective of the function of characters within a story. Also, the main elements of jo-ha-kyu and less is more, although they are very universal concepts were not as prominent in my thinking while creating new works as they are now. Having worked with these concepts and purposely trying to use these concepts in the pieces we were making, re-introduced them in my mind which will be definitely helpful for future creations.
Student response 2: Adding music to our poems was interesting because it looked at how music could support the text in setting the scene or creating an atmosphere.
Students response 3: I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with a concept for a Noh piece based around the theme of loss, and then creating a touching story about innocence and childhood. Writing a travel song for this story was an enjoyable process, as I liked researching the geography of our chosen location and intertwining it with the poetry.
Q: What areas of learning presented the greatest challenge and what did you learn by working through the challenge?
Student response 1: Bringing page to stage was definitely the hardest part of the whole process. The main obstacle was trying to figure out how much of the visual Noh aspects we were going to use. What we learned, however, and this was initiated by the fact that we did not learn the Noh way of singing nor the very specific movements, is that by taking inspiration from the way of staging or use of space and artists we could fill this ‘empty’ form or silhouette and paint it in ourselves using our own skills.
Student response 2: I found that creating the narrative of the complete Noh play, as a means to better understand the poem we were writing, very challenging because I felt that the conventions we had to stick were not familiar to us. However, in the long run I feel pushing through this challenge lead to solid narratives with action instead of merely emotion were created.
Student response 3: The biggest challenge was trying to put the song/story on its feet due to the amount of time we were given, but through this I learned not to try and overcomplicate things and keep it simple, especially when given a short time-frame.
Q: Do you feel you will be able to use any of this new learning in some way in the future? If possible, can you give some examples?
Student response 1: Definitely. The concepts Jo-ha-kyu and less is more are now one of the first thoughts I have when creating new works, especially when problems arise, they seem to help push the process forward again. Also the idea that a form is empty and with the understanding that one can fill it in themselves, is very useful as it gives you beacons or boundaries which will keep your feet on the ground as it were, it gives the creation a certain direction or grounding, while in the meantime recognizing the freedom of the space between gives you endless possibilities of creating without being completely lost. In general I think that is something useful to remember, it gives you guidance and support through your journey of ideas.
Student response 2: Adding music to our poems was interesting because it looked at how music could support the text in setting the scene or creating an atmosphere.
Student response 3: Writing poetry is not something I have a lot of experience in, so this project was a chance for me to explore outside my comfort zone. The aforementioned geography research and combining with song was a great experience, so this is definitely something I may try again in future.”