CHARACTERS:
Atsumori is a type of Japanese play called a Noh play predominantly made in the 14th century. In Noh plays all performers are males, but there a few different types of characters and each execute a specific function in the play:
1. The Shite- which is the leading character and his movements express various moods. Depending on the play the Shite can be acting as a deity, demon, spirit, or holy man.
2. The Waki- which is the supporting character that plays roles such as the priest, monk, or samurai, and he always portrays a living person.
3. The Hayashi- which are the musicians. There are usually four and they provide accompaniment for the performance with a flute (fue), shoulder drum (kotsuzumi), hip drum (otsuzumi) and/or stick drum (taiko).
4. The Jiutai- which are the chorus. They sit left stage and assist the Shite in the story.
5. The Kyōgen- which is a comic actor who played in the play during the interlude between acts as a brief farce to relieve tension.
6. The Koken- which are the stage attendants. Usually they're dressed in black and while not apart of the play assist the performers in many ways like handing them props.
7. The Shitetsure/The Wakisure- which are unmasked companions to the Shite/Waki
Characters whom wear masks usually are deceased and are deities, spirits, demons, etc. If they do not wear a mask they are a living character UNLESS they are a elder, woman, or child.
In applying this to our play, Atsumori, we have:
1. The Shite whom plays a maskless grass cutter (aka Atsumori's ghost in disguise) in act 1 and Atsumori's masked ghost in act 2.
2. The Waki whom plays the maskeless man, Renshō, who killed Atsumori in battle.
3. The Hayashi whom in the play are flute players and two hand drum players.
4. The Jiutai whom are of 8 to 10 members of the chorus sat stage left.
5. The Kyōgen whom plays the role of a maskless local man for comedic relief in the interlude while telling Atsumori's story.
6. The Koken whom are 2 stage attendants seated at the back of stage right of the instruments.
7. The Shitetsure whom are 2 or 3 maskless grass cutter companions that follow the Shite.
Therefore, given we have each of the character roles in the traditional Noh play Atsumori does reflect the regular practice of this period. And though it may seem the Waki in our play was the main character and not the Shite, given the context of the play, this doesn't seem accurate. The Waki is positioned to be the person who caused the Shite's story by killing him and the Shite is positioned to be the one having to work through what the Waki did and make peace with it.
We are supposed to sympathize with both the Shite and the Waki though I think we are supposed to sympathize with the Shite more given he was killed. So, we sympathize with the Shite because he is a young casualty of war. Though we also sympathize with the Waki because he didn't want to kill the Shite. It was war and the Shite was the enemy so he felt obligated to, so because of this he gave up being a warrior and went to seek atonement and appease the Shite's soul.
The main message is to sympathize, let go, and forgive as to reach peace (which is very a Buddhist belief). So, first we and the Shite both learned to sympathize with the Waki so we understand he was just doing his duty as a soldier and that it wasn't of his own will to kill the Shite. Then the Shite learned to let go of his anger and resentment and forgive the Waki because of this sympathy for him. Thus both the Shite and Waki were better off because of this since the Waki could atone and the Shite could move on.
