Taema (当麻) is a Noh play of the fifth category, Kiri Noh, attributed to Zeami, and centred around the origin legend of the Taema Temple in Nara Prefecture, Japan.
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Background edit
The play draws the traditional stories of otogizoshi, with their merger of elite and popular concerns, and their focus on miracles and origin stories.[1] In particular, it is concerned with the role of Princess Chujo-hime in creating the Taima Mandala.
Plot edit
A relatively undramatic play, Taema recounts how an old man visits the temple and learns the legend of the Princess from an old nun, who is revealed as the Bodhisattva Kannon.[2] Thereafter the Princess herself appears, and dances in a representation of the Pure land.[3]
Recent history edit
Though rarely performed, 2012 saw a performance in Japan featuring (equally rarely) a central role for a female actor.[4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Glassman, Hank. “‘Shaka No Honji’: Preaching, Intertextuality, and Popular Hagiography.” Monumenta Nipponica 62, no. 3 (2007): 299–321. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25066518.
- ^ J Thomas Rimer, Collected Works (2004)
- ^ J Thomas Rimer, Collected Works (2004)
- ^ Noh-Taema