Noh

Okay, slight detour today, as promised.

Today, I’ll be talking about the Noh performance. I had the privilege to catch an annual performance of the Noh in Kyouto. And while I didn’t really understand the thing, I did notice some mathematical quirk about the Noh performance.

When I came back to Australia (and had internet access), I Wiki’d Noh, and read up about it. And I was kinda right. You see, in Noh performances, there is the three-act structure (here’s something humorous about the three-act if you want to skip this article) - known in Japanese as the jo-ha-kyu. Basically, it means beginning, exposition and climax. I noted that there rarely is a closure kind-of end - in all four of the plays, they were all left hanging, as though as there was more to come - only the last play had somewhat of a half-closure.

But let’s look at the way the Noh is structured. The whole performance consisted of one half-Noh, followed by a speech by the Governor of Kyoto and a firelighting ceremony, which is then followed by three full Nohs. The entire performance is largely based on Genji mono (The Tale of Genji - one of the world’s first novels).

Anyways, if you look at it, the first half-Noh served as an opening theme song-esque type of performance (and it was full of singing too), followed by the intermission (the Governor’s speech, and the awesome firelighting ceremony), then the real story starts. The four Nohs are all separate stories, but strangely, after the entire performance is over, you can’t help but notice they’re actually telling a more sublime, unseen story. The three plays that follows the firelighting ceremony is largely a jo, ha and kyu respectively - i.e. they’re the begining of the story, the exposition, and the climax. Even though the third play was a largely different type of play in the sense that it is a parody play, and occasionally breaks the fourth wall, after the whole performance, you realize that it served really well as an exposition tool.

So, the three stories are jo-ha-kyu respectively. So what? Well, for one, each play has its own jo-ha-kyu sequence as well. Each play has its own beginning, exposition and climax. But wait! There’s more! Within each section of the play, there is jo-ha-kyu as well! For example, in each beginning scene, there is a scene where the music players step out from the stage, and sit down. Then the actors will appear, telling a bit of the story first. Then they will play on till the music hits a climax, and stops, usually quite abruptly. Then you know its time for the ‘ha’ part of the beginning section of the play.

And according to some of my friends, if you watch carefully, even the way the actors start and stop each speech and each song, each step they take, all follows jo-ha-kyu.

Now, if this starts to sound familiar, don’t worry, you’re not lost. Yes, the Noh play, I have concluded personally, is a very self-similar artform (why else do you think you see me talk about a Noh in Math-art?). It is self similar down to the point of each individual speech action of the actors and musicians are part of the math. They all incorporate the jo-ha-kyu in every aspect of the whole performance. Some are so subtle in the big scale and some are so subtle in the small scale, that you don’t really notice till after the performance.

If you’ve got a chance to see a Noh performance, go see it even if you have to pay extra. It’s both a cultural, as well as a mathematical art that is to be enjoyed. If it so happens that the Noh is playing a story you don’t know, don’t worry. Some things just transcend the language barrier. Math and art are one of those things. As such, Noh is too.