Asian theatre

Throughout history, Western theatre has been significantly influenced by religion, probably because, in almost all Western cultures, theatrical presentations began as an outgrowth of local religious practices. (See Western theatre: The origins of Western theatre.) Dominant religions in other areas of the world similarly influenced theatrical activities. For example, in regions where Islam is the primary religion, the development of theatre faced prohibitions against the presentation of images of living beings. Nonetheless, popular plays based on folkloric themes thrived. These performances did not occur in theatres or use scenery. The only staging elements employed were, at most, a rug laid on the ground and a canopy suspended overhead.

Almost all Arabic-speaking cultures also have a strong tradition of shadow-puppet theatre; among the most prominent of these traditions is the Karagöz puppet show. Shadow puppets, so-called because the audience sees only the shadows of the puppets projected on a cloth screen, thrived by sidestepping Islamic prohibitions. Because the audience never saw the puppets’ human operators and because the puppets’ two-dimensional jointed bodies were translucent, the shadows that they produced were not considered representations of humans. Like other forms of popular theatre in the Arabic-speaking world, shadow-puppet theatre uses no scenery.

Theatre in India benefited from a dominant religion (Hinduism) that encouraged theatre. Presentations and ritual performances seem to have been common in India from earliest times. The Natya-shastra (“Treatise on Dramatic Art”), written around the 2nd century ce, described three sizes and shapes of extant playhouses. The theatres, most of which were rectangular, were divided equally between the auditorium and the stage. The stage was also divided into two equal parts: the performing area and backstage. The performing stage was separated from backstage by a wall with two doorways. The area between the doorways, and much of the stage, was decorated with symbolic paintings and carvings. No scenery was used. The theatres used for the performances of Indian folk plays normally have an open stage, devoid of scenery, that is surrounded on three sides by the audience.

Although China’s history of public performance dates back to at least 1500 bce, a fully developed dramatic form did not begin to emerge until the Song dynasty (960–1279). Prior to the 10th century, public entertainments resembled modern circuses or variety shows in their combination of music, dance, and displays of athletic skills. The Chinese literary theatre, marked by its script-based production style (as opposed to the more improvisational theme-based folk theatre that had been in vogue), began during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368). The staging for this type of theatre is similar to that of Indian theatre. A painting dated 1324 shows an essentially bare stage; a decorative wall hanging is depicted at the centre of the wall at the rear of the stage, and two doorways are on either side of the hanging. No scenery is used in the performance of Chinese classical theatre today, although there are historical records of props such as tables and chairs being employed.

In Japan, Noh drama began developing in earnest in the 12th and 13th centuries, and its form was essentially set by the early 1600s. Very little about this dramatic form has since changed. The shape, style, and dimensions of the Noh stage are closely prescribed, and there is no scenery used. Kabuki theatre began in 1603 when Okuni, a female temple dancer, performed on a temporary stage set up in the river flats in Kyōto. Kabuki, which borrowed heavily from the Noh and other art forms, was very popular with the merchant and lower classes, while Noh performances were reserved for the samurai and noble classes.

Kabuki performers at first used the Noh stage but soon began to modify it. Originally relegated to outdoor performances on temporary stages, Kabuki troupes were in 1724 permitted by the government to use enclosed theatres. The advent of such theatres encouraged the development of advanced stage machinery, including elevator traps (1736), elevator stages (1753), and revolving stages (1758). The development of these complex mechanical systems coincided with the introduction of scenery into Kabuki theatre. As the stage machinery became more sophisticated—concentric revolving stages were first used in 1827, for instance—scenic elements became more and more complex.

Unlike other theatre traditions in Asia, Kabuki makes extensive use of scenery, which is used to characterize every locale. But there is a significant difference between scenery used in Western theatre and that used in Kabuki. Where Western scenery typically attempts to create the illusion of place by transforming the stage into that place, Kabuki scenery instead decorates the stage. As a result, locale is suggested in Kabuki theatre rather than created. To help support this nonillusionary premise, Kabuki scenery is changed in full view of the audience by means of a revolving stage, elevator traps and stages, grooves, and visible stage attendants.