How can Westerners study Japanese Noh? An interview with Richard Emmert, Director of the Noh Training Project and Theatre Nohgaku

Abstract

Is it really possible to study Japanese Noh theatre outside of Japan? Can Noh training be meaningful to non-Japanese, yet faithful to traditional training methods? Is amateur training outside of Japan actually all that different to amateur training inside Japan? In this interview, conducted in September 2013, Richard Emmert explains his approach to Noh training inside and outside of Japan, its relationship to traditional modes of instruction, and the possibilities for innovation. He articulates his rationale for the production of Noh in English, and explores how a lack of skilled performers for these projects led to the creation of the various Noh Training Projects held around the world. Above all, he argues that an understanding of Noh's formal complexity is central to training. He suggests that such knowledge enables the full significance of training to be realised, the meaning of innovation in Noh to be discerned, and the discovery of subtle transferable performance skills through a recognition of the relationships between music, movement, and voice.