A subtle blend of music, dance and drama dating back to the 14th century.
Many would shirk Noh theater in favor of faster-paced Kabuki dramas, but if audiences take the time to understand the subtle nuances and symbolism of Noh, it can be just as fun. It is true that it is slow paced and can sometimes be mistaken as monotonous, but there is no getting around the fact that attending a Noh performance is a truly unique and enormously rewarding experience for those with a deep interest in theater and tradition. .
Plots are generally based on history, legend, and literature with themes related to dreams, ghosts, and supernatural worlds. The language used is highly poetic, so a great emphasis is placed on the words that are spoken more than on the movements of the actors. The masks play an important role in the representation of the characters and are designed with such skill and dexterity that an actor can represent various expressions with the slightest movement of the head.
The Noh stage is extremely simple and requires a lot of imagination from the audience. In keeping with the minimalist nature of this art form, only a few accessories are used, such as fans, and the subtle way they are held, opened, or closed suggests the type of object they are used to represent.