− | In his writings on performance and training, Zeami wrote chiefly for the "primary actor," what would later come to be known as the ''shite''. In his time, in the Yamato ''sarugaku'' tradition he inherited from his father, there was already a division between those who performed primary roles, and those who performed secondary roles. As is evident in his writings, many other fundamental aspects of Noh theatre were also already existent, though many were yet to be codified. Thus, the five categories of plays, and the identification of the actors or roles as ''shite'', ''waki'', and ''tsure'', to name just a few examples, are not referred to explicitly as such in Zeami's writings, but rather develop out of his teachings. | + | In his writings on performance and training, Zeami wrote chiefly for the "primary actor," what would later come to be known as the ''shite''. In his time, in the Yamato ''sarugaku'' tradition he inherited from his father, there was already a division between those who performed primary roles, and those who performed secondary roles.<ref>Shelley Fenno Quinn, ''Developing Zeami'', University of Hawaii Press (2005), 131. |
| + | </ref> As is evident in his writings, many other fundamental aspects of Noh theatre were also already existent, though many were yet to be codified. Thus, the five categories of plays, and the identification of the actors or roles as ''shite'', ''waki'', and ''tsure'', to name just a few examples, are not referred to explicitly as such in Zeami's writings, but rather develop out of his teachings. |