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Zeami and the Nô Theatre in the World. Edited by Benito Ortolani and Samuel E. Leiter. New York: Center for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts, 1998; pp. 177. Paperback.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2001

Richard Nichols
Affiliation:
Penn State University

Abstract

Thomas Rimer's Fall 1992 Asian Theatre Journal article, “What More Do We Need to Know about the Nô ?” notes that, despite the blossoming of interest in the nô during the decade of the 1980s, and, despite having the nô as a tradition and living performance to both study and enjoy, scholars of the nô miss a “certain understanding of the tradition in the larger perspective” (217). Though perhaps not responding directly to Professor Rimer's concern, Zeami and the Nô Theatre in the World successfully places nô in a larger context of theory, aesthetics, and performance. The editors of this volume, Benito Ortolani and Samuel Leiter, both widely published and highly respected scholars of traditional Japanese theatre, note in their introduction that Zeami (1363–1443), the acknowledged founder of the nô, has “become increasingly well known as one of the great figures in the history of world theatre,” and they “wish not only to encourage readers to more effectively appreciate and understand nô drama through increased access to his ideas, but to recognize Zeami's place in the pantheon of theatrical thinker artists as one whose insights are surprisingly pertinent on a universal plane.” The focus of the text is firmly fixed on Zeami as the creator of an art form that is at once ancient and modern, Japanese and universal. Despite the brevity of Zeami and the Nô Theatre in the World, the introduction by Ortolani and Leiter and the eleven essays they edited for inclusion in the volume attain the editors' stated goals, and, in so doing, provide a valuable resource for generalist and specialist alike.

Type
BOOK REVIEWS
Copyright
© 2001 The American Society for Theatre Research, Inc.

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