Dramatic Action in Greek Tragedy and Noh

Reviews / Votes

Historically, Greek tragedy and Japanese Noh have nothing to do with each other, having developed in different eras and geographical regions. Yet both theatrical traditions tell stories of human joy and suffering through characters and action, and they evoke emotional response in audiences past and present. Noh plays are most familiar as mugen or "spirit noh," in which a wandering soul recounts an event in his or her life that is the cause of longing or torment. There are also genzai or "realistic noh," which deal with living people and present action. Some of the best-loved plays in the repertoire are Genzai Noh, Funa Benkei, Sumidagawa, and Ataka. Smethurst, author of The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami uses Aristotle's views on tragedy to analyze the plot structure in a group of lesser-known genzai noh texts, comparing them to examples of tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides. She examines the writers' use of action in these noh plays and their incorporation of third-person speech at the plot climax, features that correspond to Aristotle's principle that a tragedy can have only three actors. Smethurst's study of noh texts is uniquely illuminating for scholars of tragedy. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. * CHOICE * Smethurst has a fine sense of dramatic action, and it is a delight to read her explication of one effective scene or exchange after another. This alone makes both books of great value to theatre practitioners as well as scholars interested in tragedy or noh. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * Mae Smethurst has followed up her pathbreaking book on The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami with a new study that compares Greek tragedy and realistic Noh drama with a plot and living characters. Drawing on Aristotle's views of the well structured tragic plot in his Poetics, Smethurst identifies common elements such as conflict, recognition, and fatal reversals in both genres as well as a similar pivotal role for the third actor in tragedy and a climactic stepping outside of character in Noh. The comparison is remarkably illuminating for students of both Greek and Japanese traditions. -- Helene Foley, Columbia University Mae Smethurst brings to her research a unique balance of expertise in Greek Tragedy and Japanese Noh drama. In a fitting sequel to her path-breaking earlier work 'The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami,' she here employs her understanding of Aristotle to investigate the workings of several relatively little studied Noh plays. This technique sheds new light on plays set in living reality, as opposed to the dream vision plays that tend to be viewed as the hallmark of Noh. Conversely, her approach to the Japanese works raises fresh issues to consider in the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. A core focus of comparison concerns the issue of distanciation in text and performance. This rich scholarship, comparing unique juxtapositions of plays, is replete with original insights on multiple levels of analysis. Despite vast differences in time, culture and language, Tragedy and Noh illuminate each other in this exceptional book. It will intrigue specialists of each tradition and engage anyone with an interest in the possibilities and realities of theater in general. -- Susan Matisoff, University of California, Berkeley