Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/48

Rh demeanour, and moral teaching of the new drama.

For the Saru-gaku thus modified became, in effect, a drama. Its performers ceased to be mere dancers and were converted into actors. Even the name Saru-gaku passed out of use, being replaced by Nô (accomplishment), which term continues in vogue until to-day. The stage for the performance of the new drama was in the open air, a platform eighteen feet square, having on either side a species of gallery for the audience, and in front a more elevated seat for any high official or court dignitary that might attend. Behind the platform and connected with it by an open passage or bridge, stood the "green room," and when a performer emerged from the green room, he passed first through an antechamber where a large round mirror stood, and then made his debut upon the bridge, commencing his role from that moment just as the acrobats of the Den-gaku did. A stage-manager had his place in the dressing-room, and at the back of the stage were seated a row of musicians, numbering from ten to twenty, who acted the part of a chorus, accompanying the dance with flute and drum, and from time to time intoning the words of the drama. The costumes were magnificent; the music was weird and slow; masks modelled with admirable skill were worn, and the spectacular effects often