Disappearance: A Review

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to go see my classmates and professor's production of Disappearance, a modern play with rootes in classical Noh theatre. The performance was magnificantly done and overall I was extremely impressed by both the cast members and the directorial approach. I was a little skeptical beforehand at the idea of Westernized American students partaking in such an intricate and delicate art form as Noh theatre to be honest. To my surprise, not only did the cast and director excel at presenting such a style, but the amalgamation of traditional Noh themes with a modern play was seamless.

Typified Noh characteristics were not readily apparent throughout the play on the surface, but having learned much about the Noh style in class, I was able to perceive the less apparent symbolic nature of such characteristics. The stage boundaries were defined by four blocks covered in Christmas wrapping. I immediately associated these blocks to be representative of the four pillars which define the limits of the stage in traditional Noh theatre. All actors moved within these defined spaces unless entering or leaving the stage. Furthermore, I noticed that all the principle actors primarily entered and exited through a narrow passageway from the back of the theatre. Although not elevated like the traditional bridge, I took this entrance style to represent that of the hashigakari used in Noh theatre.

Yet, the main subliminal connection to Noh I saw throughout the performance was an emphasis on ghosts and/or the sprirtual world. Towards the very end of the play, we learn that Stan died years ago and only has continued "living" in the form of a robot, controlled by his brother, Chaz. His robot form stands in for interactions with ghosts that often occure during Noh plays. Chaz is desparate to maintain a relationship he holds so dear to him that he goes to exaggerated lengths to keep Stan alive. This direct connection between the living and nonliving, and coporeal world and spiritual world exemplified for me the deep roots the play had in Noh theatre.

Overall, the play opened my eyes to the possibility of uniting Western and nonwestern theatre in such a unified way. The combination of clearly Asian traditions, such as the jutai, as well as more symbolic references with clearly Western traditions like its tragic and realist nature clearly characterized this unification process. Without trying to do too much, or attempt to replicate Asian theatre, Guru and his cast members successfully created a rendition that played to both western and eastern audiences while maintaining its uniqueness and innovation. I was extremely impressed.