The New Directions in Noh initiative is the home base for scholars from around the globe advancing innovative research and public-facing projects connected to the noh theatre. From intensive scholarly workshops to exhibits, websites, and performances, our members engage with noh's past and our ever-developing understandings of how it can illuminate the contemporary world.

The three prongs of New Directions in Noh are:

The New Directions in Noh Theatre Studies Working Group convenes in person annually for an intensive workshop to provide a robust and supportive community for scholars of noh drama working across the globe. It also maintains a lively online community for connecting members to each other and wider networks of scholars and performers throughout the year.

Noh: The Living Tradition highlights the ripple effects of these workshops. It is a repository of member efforts to bring the living traditions of noh to American audiences, including performances, workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and projects involving noh’s reverberations in other genres and cultures.

Japanese Performance and its Resonances showcases the variety of ways in which members connect noh and its medieval Japanese context with contemporary concerns and art forms. In doing so, it showcases the vibrancy of noh as a means to “think with.”