Asian theatre serves the majority of the population of the planet and, since theatres in the East and West developed in almost total isolation from each other, its qualities differ markedly from those of European descent. Certain fundamental principles, such as rhythmic and melodic dramatic language that is chanted, sung, mimed and danced, a focus on the visual and sensual over the literary and intellectual, broad stylization, and an emphasis on storytelling and myth, underlie the numerous forms of Asian theatre.
The roots of Indian theatre are as ancient as those of the West. Sanskrit dance-theatre is described in detail by a 2000 year-old treatise on theatre, the Natyasastra, which outlines the fundamental aesthetics upon which all Indian dramatic forms would be based. Danced and acted by performers from the priestly caste trained from early childhood, Sanskrit theatre was highly virtuosic. This quality would carry over to the most widely known Indian dance-drama form, Kathakali. Based on stories from the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Kathakali is sung by two singers at the side of the stage accompanied by gongs, drums, and cymbals, while actors dance and pantomime the story with precise hand, foot, eye, and body movements.
Chinese Opera, known as xiqu ("tuneful-theatre") developed from a comedic dance-drama with acrobatics and clowning through a more stately and poetic form and finally into the approximately 360 variations performed today. The best known of these is Beijing Opera. Roles are divided into specific character types, and since the stories presented are well known, its staging received primary focus and has become a celebration of the performer's fourfold skills of singing, speech, acting and movement, and martial arts and acrobatics.
Japanese Nõ theatre is highly ceremonial, mysterious, and tragic. Performed on a precisely configured stage, its action nearly always portrays supernatural events enacted by specific character types in exact choreographic patterns with the help of assistants, musicians, and a seated chorus. Japan's Kabuki theatre, in contrast, developed as a mass entertainment concerned with events of the material world, which were portrayed in history, domestic, and dance-drama plays. Also, unlike Nõ, its scenery and costumes are elaborate and spectacular, its acting style often physically dynamic, and its theatres arranged to allow for striking stage effects and a highly engaged audience.
