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//**Among the Noh plays you have read, select one that appeals to you the most and discuss why you are drawn to it above all the other works. You may wish to refer to the video illustrations of the excerpts of the plays that we saw in class, as well as the scripts to compose your answer.**//

Viewing Noh and reading a Noh play offer different experiences of the genre, which makes it difficult to choose an overall favorite; I would rather view a performance of Nomori, while I preferred reading Sumida-Gawa.

If I were viewing a Noh performance, I would choose Nomori over the other Noh plays from class. In the video clips I found the dance style to be the most engaging, and the costumes and masks the most appealing (Noh film viewed 2/24/12). The demon’s dance was the most energetic style when compared to the main dances of the God, Warrior, Woman, and Miscellaneous plays, and I also found the brighter colors (especially the reds) of the demon’s costume and mask to be visual very interesting after the predominance of gold and ivory in the costumes and masks of the other types of Noh.

In reading Noh, I most enjoyed the play Sumida-Gawa. I felt it had the most cohesive story and dramatic tension. While in other Noh plays the shite character tells their story in disguise and then returns to reveal their true form, in Sumida-Gawa the shite discovers the end to her story from others, and the reader can follow as the tale builds to its tragic climax (script of Sumida-Gawa). I also found it easier to follow the story, and I felt less dependent on the explanation given by the ai kyogen between the two ‘acts’. I was also able to follow the story in Nomori without the ai kyogen, but I still preferred the stronger dramatic storyline in Sumida-Gawa.

Visually I found the Noh play Nomori the most interesting to watch, while Sumida-Gawa was my preference when reading the scripts.

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