The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism - Revised Edition - Softcover

Ortolani, Benito

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691043337 ISBN 13: 9780691043333

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Widely recognized as the standard history of Japanese theatre for Western readers, this work by Benito Ortolani is now available for the first time in paperback. From ancient folk and ritual performances to modern dance theatre, it provides concise summaries about each major theatrical form, situating the genre in its particular social, political, and cultural contexts and integrating a vast array of detail on such topics as staging, costuming, masks and properties, repertory, acting techniques, and noteworthy actors. Complete with illustrations and an extensive bibliography, this book serves undergraduates and specialists both as a reference and as a cultural history of Japan seen from the perspective of the performing arts.

About this title

Review:

"The reader will find no fuller and more informed account of the complexities of Japanese theatre history and of the cultural matrices from which Japan's various theatre forms grew, than in this admirable scholarly work."---James R. Brandon, Monumenta Nipponica

"The book represents the summation of a lifetime's work by a meticulous teacher and scholar whose fascination with his subject now allows him to share his knowledge, and his enthusiasms, with a larger audience."---J. Thomas Rimer, Asian Theatre Journal

From the Back Cover:

'(An) admirable handbook... (The barrier of language) closes the door on a major theatre tradition and the analytical techniques devised by Japanese scholars. Ortolani's achievement is that in his own work, and in his summaries of Eastern and Western research, he opens that door for us to look inside.' - Michael J. Pearson, Theatre Research International

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0691043337
• ISBN 13: 9780691043333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432