Characters
waki: secondary character, often a travelling priest
shite: central character
maejite: first appearance of the shite, disguised as a local, contemporary person
nochijite:
second appearance of the shite, revealed to be a god, demon, or
spirit of historical or
legendary person
tsure: companion of the shite
ai: a local person who gives an earthy, sometimes humorous recounting of the legend concerning the shite during the ai kyôgen interlude between the two parts of the play
Structure of a Two-Part mugen (dream/phantasm) Nô Play
1. The waki enters, introduces himself (nanori), and explains why he has come to the location of the drama
2. The shite enters and chants, in an emotionally charged fashion, offering hints of the character's past
3. The waki interrogates the shite about past events at the location
4. The shite relates past events at the location
5. The shite exits (vanishes), often leaving the waki with a request for prayers
Ai kyôgen: the ai appears and gives an earthy or humorous recounting of the local legend
6. The waki awaits the shite's reappearance (in some cases, the waki has fallen asleep at the end of the ai kyôgen, and what follows can be interpreted as the waki's dream)
7. The shite reappears, having fully assumed his/her identity as a god, demon, or person of the past
8. An encounter between the waki and shite
9. The shite enacts events of the past, bringing the play to a climax with a dance, having fully assumed his/her true identity
-----Adapted from Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri, and Robert E. Morell, The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature (Princeton UP, 1985) 312-313.