Writing+Assignment

Introduction to Asian Theatre (the middle period)

This semester your job as a group is to compose on this wiki a collective general text on Asian theatre covering the period roughly between the 14th and the late 19th century that focuses principally on Kabuki of Japan, Beijing Opera of China, and Kathakali of India. Your task is to find data, principally online, on youtube, flickr, wikipedia, whatever etc. that explains the theatre of these various major Asian countries. To illustrate your text you will include films and photographs, sound, and graphics. You are to use what notes I give you in class and what visual material I show you toward developing your ideas.


 * As part of this assignment you need to explore the social and cultural history of the countries involved that encouraged the growth and development of such theatre.
 * Your text should include plays and scenes from plays that illustrate the genres of performance with which we are concerned. You might even want to perform and record scenes from the plays to illustrate your understanding of them and how they might be performed in this country today.
 * It should also include a review of the kinds of performances that went before those with which we are dealing and indicates how these forms led to those with which we are concerned.
 * One of your tasks will be to develop links between your text and other works found online. Linking between sources will allow your reader to enlarge his/her understanding of the subject.
 * You will also include your personal views of the genres of performance perhaps contrasting and comparing them with views of other genres of performance in the west. You may include humorous as well as serious material that will help readers understanding and promote interest in the subject.
 * Your text will serve as the foundation for future readers who will do similar projects about other periods and areas of Asian theatre with which we don't have time to be concerned.
 * One of your tasks will be to develop a bibliography of readings that you may point readers to. The bibliography may contain your personal opinions about the worth of the readings, including information about the visual material that helps you to understand the subject.

Categories of Effort:

Makeup - Tradition, training, and meaning Costume- Materials used, meaning of different costumes, colors used Actors - requirements, training, duties, hierarchy and social standings Set/theatre - design/formatt, necessities Music - musical instruments, training, rituals, different rhythms used Dance - training, rituals, different rhythms used Performance space/stage - conventions, traditions and innovations Scripts/plot - Themes, stories, authors, language style Process of entering the training process - who is eligible to audition, age, process Interpretations of Western plays in these 3 styles