How do classical, highly codified theatre arts retain the interest of today's audiences and how do they grow and respond to their changing circumstances? The eight essays presented here examine the contemporary relevance and significance of the "classic" No and Kyogen theatre to Japan and the West. They explore the theatrical experience from many perspectives--those of theatre, music, dance, art, literature, linguistics, philosophy, religion, history and sociology.
An authority on kabuki theater, James Rodger Brandon received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1955, Brandon joined the Foreign Service for six years, working in Java and Japan. Upon his return to the United States in 1961 Brandon taught Asian theater at the University of Michigan's Department of Speech and Comparative Literature, where he directed his first two Kabuki productions in English. In 1968 Brandon joined the staff at the University of Hawai'i in Manoa, where he taught until his retirement in 2000.