Japanese Folk Plays: the Ink Smeared Lady and Other Kyogen

Description

Interspersed between the stately, slower-paced dance dramas of Japan's Noh theater are the delightful comic plays or interludes known as Kyogen. These brief plays evolved from the bawdy skits that were rousingly enjoyed by theplebeian populaces of the cities in feudal Japan some hundreds of years ago when Noh itself was a pastime and entertainment exclusively reserved for the aristocracy. Today they still provide delightful relieffrom the sustained andconcentrated action of the Noh play that has changed very little throughout the centuries. Among the various forms of classical Japanese drama.;Preface; Note to the New Edition; Contents; Plan of the Sarugaku Stage; Key to the Plan of the Modern Kyogen Stage; Introduction; Introductory; Origin of Kyogen; History and Vicissitudes; Problems of Authorship and Texts; Sources; Aesthetic Value of the Kyogen; KYOGEN, The Comic Interludes of Japan; The Ink-Smeared Lady; The Ribs and the Cover; Buaku; A Bag of Tangerines; The Fox Mound; The Letter "I"; The Magic Mallet of the Devil; Gargoyle; THe Bird-Catcher in Hades; The Melon Thief; Mr. Dumbtaro; Busu; Liberate Highwaymen; The Deva King; An Unfair Exchange; Seed of Hojo; Pop! Click!