Synopsis of Adachigahara (also known as Kurozuka)
(from A Guide to Noh by P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1953)
A fifth category play performed by all schools.
Characters:
Act 1:
Waki..................................a yamabushi (mountain) priest
Waki-tsure.........................a yamabushi (mountain) priest
Shite..................................a village woman
Kyogen..............................a servant
Act 2:
Nochi-jite.........................a female demon
Two traveling priests are given shelter for the night in the house of a poor woman at Kurozuka in Adachigahara. She spins thread and tells them of her lonely life in the mountains. When she leaves to collect firewood, she warns them not to look into her back room, but the priests' servant is unable to restrain his curiousity. The horrifying things he sees there convince the priests that they are in the house of a demon. When the women realizes they have found out her true nature, she returns in her true demonic form to attack them. After a long struggle, she is finally vanquished by the power of the priests' prayers.