Noh Theatre

Noh (Nō) theatre is a Japanese performance art which became especially popular from the 14th century CE and which is still performed today. Noh actors, who were always male in the medieval period, famously move and make gestures in a very slow and highly stylised manner while they wear masks of particular designs which show the characters they are playing such as youths, aristocratic women, warriors, and demons. Greatly influenced by religious rituals and Buddhist themes, the plays are often concerned with moral dilemmas and the next life.