Performing Furyu No: The Theatre of Konparu Zenpo

Konparu Zenpō is one of several late Muromachi nō practitioners whose plays show a strong emphasis on drama and spectacle. Nō scholars in later generations called these plays furyū nō because of this emphasis, and identified them as representative of the nō theatre produced during Zenpō's period. This paper examines some of Zenpō's plays that highlight these furyū characteristics, making reference to earlier plays produced by Zeami and his contemporaries with which present-day readers and audiences are probably more familiar.