The musicians are seated either on the right or at the back of the stage. The chant-like songs are either sung alone or to the accompaniment of the flute or drums. The performers sing and dance in turns illustrating stories from their repertoire of about 240 pieces. A typical programme would consist of about 3-5 such plays, interspersed with some comedy theatre- Kyogen. Both Noh and Kyogen are inseparable and have the same grammar of 'introduction- exposition- finale' for each play.

The process of dressing involves an elaborate five-layered costume (shozoku) with an outer robe of brocade, a headdress, a thin plait at the back along with strips of gold brocade, and a mask (omote) or fan (chukei) as accessories, the last used for representing an object or an action. The stocking-clad feet can barely move and require a smooth surface on stage. The movements are thus predictably slow and deliberate. Customarily a male dominated sphere, the men dress up as women and angels too!

Noh is famous for its masks worn by the leading character (shite) of the play, and they differ according to the character portrayed. The dance with the mask was especially understated; the only difference between sorrow and happiness was an imperceptible movement of the head!

In dramatisation without the mask, gaits of various characters were illustrated. The walk of a female was characterised by a delicate step and a lift of the heel, and progressively got more aggressive for a male and for a demon. Arm movements indicated sorrow and happiness, the expansiveness of the movements commensurate with the intensity of the mood.

The plays include stories of gods, warriors, women and demons. The solos presented were: 'Hagoromo' where the actor takes on the role of an angel, 'Kiyotsune' where a ghost appears in front of a woman when a lock of her dead husband's hair is given to her, and relates the tale of his defeat in battle; 'Katsuragi' where a woman gives some travelling priests shelter, and asks them to pray for her to absolve her of her earlier wrongs that turned her, the Mountain Goddess into a woman. The last play was the most dramatic. 'Tsuchi-gumo' had two actors; Yorimitsu, the protagonist is ill and the spirit of Tsuchi-gumo comes as a spider and weaves a web around him, to kill him. The special effects of the silken strands of the web were exciting to watch. Yorimitsu injures the spider in a fight and it runs away. Later, the people follow the trail of blood and kill the spider.

The opportunity to experience this old tradition was provided by the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture amongst Youth (SPICMACAY) in their World Virasat programme dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, jointly with the Japanese Consulate. The touring party of Professor Tamotsu Matsuda of the Nisho-gakusha University, and actors Fusao Okamoto, Tetsuhisa Tanabe and Kenji Kitadate, from the Kanze School in Japan made the presentation.

The little snippets of information that the interactive session threw up were almost as interesting as the presentation itself! For example: each costume takes two years to complete and costs $50000…. The braids the performers wore were made with real hair, but with women changing lifestyles they make do with horsehair nowadays… The art form is not very popular with the younger generation and there are only 2000 performers in Japan today. Enough information to digest for the moment!