Mountain Court Theatre

Mountain Court Theatre is one of the oldest and most refined styles of theatre practiced in the Realm. It is a synthesis of drama, dance, poetry recital, and musical performance.

In a Mountain Court performance, prose lines are interspersed with arias, usually sung to traditional melodies. Each word or phrase is also expressed by a stylized movement or gesture that is essentially part of a dance, with strict rules of style and execution. Even casual gestures must be precisely executed and timed to coordinate with the music and percussion. The refinement of the movement is further enhanced with stylized make-up and costumes that also serve as simple props.

Mountain Court is first and foremost a performing art. Performances are valued not only for their riveting synthesis of drama, singing and dancing, but also for the literary refinement of their poetic libretto. The plot is usually familiar to the audience, or else made available through a prose summary. In fact, most Mountain Court plays would take several days to perform in their entirety, so any given performance generally consists of a few selected scenes from one or more well known plays.

Musical and Dramatic Structure

In a Mountain Court performance, three media work simultaneously and in harmony to convey the meaning and desired esthetic effect: music, words, and dance. An accomplished Mountain Court performer must master the special styles of singing and dance movement to convey the meaning and desired esthetic effect.

There are two, easily distinguished, styles of text and music. Arias, which are sung and accompanied by the orchestra, are elaborate poems of high literary quality. Prose passages (monologues and dialogues) are neither sung nor spoken but chanted in a stylized fashion. Sometimes there is a combination of the two styles: one of the characters sings while another one chants at the same time.

The poetic passages of the play are almost always written to fit an a sequence of tunes chosen from an existing repertory. The libretto must conform to the pattern of the particular tune in regard to the number of lines, the number of syllables per line, tonal sequence and rhyme. Every word has a "melody", and the musical air must be superimposed on the word melody, without interfering with it.

In addition to music and words, dance movements and highly stylized gestures form an integral part of the performance. The whole body is engaged, but the movement is much more grounded. The movements convey an intricate language of gestures and body movements that is similar but much more complex and extensive than normal mime. Although the meaning of some movements is immediately understood even by the uninitiated, other movements are stylized and conventional, involving not only the body but also the costume (especially the sleeves) and props held in the hand, such as a fan.

Stage, Props, and Costumes

Mountain Court uses a minimum of props and scenery, which permits the performers to more easily express their stage movements in the form of dance. There are few props: sometimes a table and a chair. The performers appeal to the audience's imagination and conjure up a scene or a setting (such as a door, a horse, a river, a boot) with words, gestures, and music. The costumes are elaborate exaggerated versions of court dress, and make no attempt to fit the time or place of the action. For instance, in many roles, the performers wear robes with extremely long white sleeves call "water sleeves", which essentially serve as props to accent their dance movements. One of the signs of accomplished Mountain Court performers is the skill with which they manipulate their water sleeves and fan to enhance their movements.

The costumes and simple props often convey additional information about the characteristic of the character. For instance, peonies on a young man's robe might indicate a playboy, or carrying a magnifying glass might indicate social blindness. An Immaculate exorcist always carries a straw duster to ward off evil spirits.

Mountain Court performers also wear what is known as the 'Mountain Court Mask', which is in fact not a costume piece but a layer of thick makeup, wherein each pattern and color have specific meaning, their combination revealing the nature of the character. Each mask, however, is slightly different, for a master of Mountain Court cosmetics tailors his art to the specific actor whom he is painting.

--- Red indicates devotion, courage, bravery, and loyalty. The colour of Generals.

--- Black symbolizes roughness and selflessness. The black face indicates either a rough and bold character or an impartial and selfless personality. The colour of Magistrates.

--- White signifies cool-headedness and ambition.

--- Purple stands for sophistication and culture.

--- Reddish-Purple shows a just and noble character, proud and impetuous but who will eventually be reconciled with his rival to serve the greater good.

--- Blue represents staunchness and astuteness.

--- Yellow suggests sinisterness, treacherousness, suspiciousness and craftiness. The colour of Villains.

--- Green tells the audience that the character is impulsive and violent and depicts surly stubbornness, impetuosity and a total lack of self-restraint.

--- Gold and silver are used for gods and spirits.

--- Dragonblooded characters are represented with complex elemental imagery painted over their bodies.

--- For the clown character, there is a special makeup called the Petty Painted Face, a small patch of chalk on and around the nose to show a mean and secretive character, one who is sycophantic, or one who is particularly comedic.

--- A complex array of forehead symbols exist for use by the Anathema, painted in white upon a patch of darker colour. Officially there exist fifteen 'true' Anathema symbols, as well as symbols for the denizens of Malfeas, the Fair Folk, and more mundane villains.

Role Types

The meaning and accessibility of Mountain Court performances are further enhanced by well defined role types. These roles differ not only in the type of character - young man, young woman, clown, etc -- but also in the vocal requirements and the form in which the body is engaged. In fact, the stylized movement associated with each role type constitutes an art form in itself, and actors will typically devote themselves to mastering a specific role type. The three most popular types of roles in Mountain Court are Young Woman, Young Man, and The Clown. Other important role types include the Old Man, Old Woman, and the Anathema.

Musical Accompaniment

Each Mountain Court performance is accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble, generally consisting of between 6 to 10 musicians. This ensemble is divided into two sections: Wind and String instruments, and the Percussion section. The primary function of Wind and Strings is to accompany singing, the Percussion's role is to set the pace of the play, and to punctuate the action and emotion.

Restrictions

Mountain Court is a strict and rigid form, every element codified to an exacting standard. Mountain Court performances amongst the Dynasty prove mastery of a complex art, with appropriate social benefits.

Traditionally, in a Mountain Court play, there are no acrobatic movements, and any martial arts movements are expressed in dancing form.

History

Mountain Court Theatre emerged during the years of the Shogunate, becoming the favoured form of theatre in the court of the Shogun and many powerful Daimyo. Earlier plays were often adapted ('perfected') to the style, and others were written and performed, becoming classics which remain highly regarded to the present day. Because of the time required to master its forms, few military officers were able performers of the art, though the actors were often court duelists or the children of ranking generals and ministers. The masters of the style were mostly lost during the Great Contagion, along with the prosperity required to support the vast expense of plays and perfected actors. The Realm continues to support several Mountain Court troupes and Dynastic performers, while Lookshy retains some knowledge but lacks ability to assemble full troupes for proper performances... a fact pointed out by Realm diplomats to mock Lookshyan claims of being proper heirs to the Shogunate.

Examples of classic Mountain Court plays include The Peach Blossom Fan & Palace of Eternal Life.