Furyu Noh

• Japanese: 風流能 (furyuu nou, fuuryuu nou)

Furyû Noh or Fûryû Noh is a term coined by scholars in the 1960s to refer to a style of Noh theatre pioneered by Konparu Zenpô and some of his contemporaries (incl. Kanze Nobumitsu and Kanze Nagatoshi) in the late 15th to early 16th centuries. Fûryû Noh involves more complex and dramatic plots, slightly larger casts, and more elaborate sets than earlier Noh plays. More emphasis is placed on action and spectacle, and less on emotional introspection of the characters; meanwhile, not only the shite, but other characters as well, are given dramatic complexity. Further, fûryû Noh plays tend to be somewhat more purely narrative, insofar as they follow a more linear narrative, rather than the more circular form of many mugen Noh ("dream" or "ghost" plays), in which the majority of the action consists of remembering, discussing, and reenacting a singular event of the past.

References

• Beng Choo Lim, "Performing Furyû Nô: The Theatre of Konparu Zenpô," Asian Theatre Journal 22:1 (2005), 33-51.