Japan Society to Present 'A NIGHT OF KYOGEN' This December
By: BWW News Desk Nov. 20, 2015
As part of its 2015-2016 Performing Arts Season, Japan Society presents A Night of Kyogen with Mansaku Nomura and Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company, bringing this renowned company back to Japan Society (333 East 47th Street) for three performances only: Thursday, December 10 - Saturday, December 12. Performances at 7:30pm.
A Night of Kyogen with Mansaku Nomura and Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company celebrates the Mansaku Nomura Family, and its long-standing relationship with Japan Society, that began half a century ago when Mansaku, with his father, Manzo Nomura, came to the United States to introduce American audiences to the art of kyogen, Japan's highly stylized traditional comedic theater that began in the mid-14th century and has been passed down for over 600 years. Octogenarian Living National Treasure Mansaku Nomura, together with illustrious members of the Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company, including Mansaku's son Mansai Nomura, star of stage, film and television, and masterful performer Yukio Ishida, return to Japan Society in a special evening of kyogen, a form that embraces human imperfection.
This unique program features three pieces: Mansaku Nomura's virtuosic performance of four distinct characters in the vigorous solo piece, Nasu no Yoichi no Katari (The Tale of Yoichi of Nasu), based on a serious episode from The Tale of the Heike, Japan's most recognized story of battle; the dynamic and sweeping Akutaro (Akutaro Reforms), starring Mansai Nomura, about a troublemaker's surprising and action-packed journey to repentance; and the delightful popular play Bonsan (The Dwarf Tree Thief), which follows a foolish thief with a penchant for bonsai trees. Performed in Japanese with English titles.
The Mansaku-no-Kai Company was founded by Mansaku Nomura II, and is now led by Mansaku and his son, Mansai II, members of a distinguished theatrical familial line that boasts a 250-year history. Since the company's first tour abroad to the Paris International Theater Festival in 1957, Mansaku has been a pioneer in sharing the art of kyogen with international audiences, giving performances and lectures throughout the world. Continuing his father's mission, Mansai performs kyogen extensively, and is committed to exploring the possibilities of kyogen as a contemporary performing art. Mansaku Nomura is a Living National Treasure of Japan. Two members of Mansaku-no-Kai, Mansai Nomura and Yukio Ishida, are designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property as Noh performers.
Kyogen, along with noh, is designated "Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO, with a more than 600-year-old history. It is one of the most internationally popular classical theater arts of Japan along with bunraku and kabuki. Literally defined as "mad words" or "wild speech," kyogen is comic theater that developed alongside noh theater. In contrast to the tragic themes and ephemeral philosophy of noh plays, kyogen features performers who display exuberant facial expressions for comic effect and stories depicting daily life through dialogue and mime. Popular and accessible, kyogen features a striking simplicity in plot, characters and speech, coupled with expressive acting. Kyogen's appeal remains very strong to this day, drawing upon a rich repertoire of over two hundred plays, and the work of noteworthy actors who have achieved great acclaim and wide recognition in this discipline and beyond.
About the artists:
Mansaku Nomura is a Living National Treasure of Japan, born in 1931 as the second son of the late Manzo Nomura VI, who was also a Living National Treasure. He studied kyogen under his grandfather Mansai Nomura I and his father Manzo. At age three, he made his stage debut in the role of Little Monkey in Utsubozaru. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Japanese Literature. An outstanding leader in the kyogen world, with his unparalleled stage performances of even the most demanding traditional kyogen pieces such as at Tsurigitune, Mansaku's acting credits also span modern/contemporary theater works including Pierrot Lunaire, Shigosen no Matsuri (The Rite of Meridian) directed by Junji Kinoshita and Shukoh with Zhang Jiqing. Mansaku also created and directed the "new" kyogen piece, The Braggart Samurai, based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, which toured to Hong Kong and Adelaide, and was also presented at Japan Society in 1997. He has also been active in leading kyogen workshops throughout the world since 1957, including in the U.S. at universities such as the University of Washington, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii as a visiting professor. He is the recipient of numerous awards such as The Asahi Prize, Grand-prix of Art Festival run by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, Tsubouchi Shoyo Prize, Kinokuniya Theatre Award, and the purple Ribbon Medal by Japanese Government. This year, Mansaku was honored with the Cultural Achievement Award by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the Government of Japan.
Mansai Nomura II, born in 1966, studied under his father Mansaku II and his late grandfather Manzo VI (both Living National Treasures). He made his stage debut at the age three. His acclaimed stagings go far beyond those of traditional kyogen and noh actors - he also played the title roles of Oedipus, directed by Yukio Ninagawa, and Hamlet, directed by Jonathan Kent. He has starred in hit Japanese movies such as Akira Kurosawa's Ran, Yohjiro Takita's Onmyoji and Isshin Inudo and Masatsugu Higuchi's The Floating Castle (2012). Beyond acting, he is committed to directing plays that merge classic and contemporary, East and West. In addition to his own creations of "new" kyogen pieces including The Kyogen of Errors, based on Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, which toured to London's Globe Theatre in 2002 and to the U.S. in 2005, his directing credits include Kuni-nusu-bito (from Richard III), Yabu no Naka (In a Thicket), Kagamikaja (Mirror Servant) and Atsushi (from the late Atsushi Nakajima`s Sangetsuki and Meijinden), for which he was awarded the Asahi Performing Arts Award and the Kinokuniya Theatre Award in 2005 for direction and composition. In 2013, Mansai performed in the traditional piece SANBASO, divine dance, a collaboration with Hiroshi Sugimoto which was co-presented by Japan Society and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and took place in the Guggenheim rotunda. He has received the National Arts Festival New Artist Award and the Ministry of Education's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists. He holds the distinction of Important Intangible Cultural Property: Nohgaku. He has been the Artistic Director of Setagaya Public Theatre since 2002.
Yukio Ishida, born in 1949, studied under Mansaku Nomura and is one of the most accomplished performers in the Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company, with 40 years of experience. He has performed major works such as Sanbaso, Tsurigitsune and Hanago. Along with noh shite actor Ryuzo Tazaki, he leads So-no-kai Noh and Kyogen Company, which received the Grand-prix of art Festival run by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan 2006. He received the 30th Hosei University Noh Drama Prize in Memory of Kanze Hisao in 2011, and has been designated a holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property: Nohgaku.
Japan Society's 2015-2016 Performing Arts Season, featuring works by visionary artists in dance, music and theater, launched in September with the very well-received Traditional Dance from Okinawa, with Live Music. The season continued with the New York debut of Charan-Po-Rantan, Concert + Party (October 29, 2015), and followed with a dance event, the North American Premiere of Shuji Onodera's Spectator (November 13 & 14). In 2016, the season continues with the theater events God Bless Baseball, by playwright & director Toshiki Okada, a North American Premiere as part of The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival (January 14-17, 2016); Sleep, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story in a work-in-progress presentation by the Obie Award-winning companies Ripe Time and The Play Company (February 26-28, 2016); and the Annual Play Reading Series: Contemporary Japanese Plays In English Translation with Girl X by Suguru Yamamoto, directed by Charlotte Brathwaite (March 21, 2016). The season concludes in Spring 2016 with Sound Exploration with Otomo Yoshihide/FEN (May 14, 2016).
Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a multidisciplinary hub for global leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and English and Japanese-speaking audiences. At the Society, more than 100 events each year feature sophisticated, topically relevant presentations of Japanese art and culture and open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan and East Asia. An American nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, the Society cultivates a constructive, resonant and dynamic relationship between the people of the U.S. and Japan.
Since the inception of the Performing Arts Program in 1953, Japan Society has introduced nearly 700 of Japan's finest performing arts to an extensive American audience. Programs range from the traditional arts of noh, kyogen, bunraku and kabuki to cutting-edge theater, dance and music. The Program also commissions new works to non-Japanese artists, produces national tours, organizes residency programs for American and Japanese artists and develops and distributes educational programs.
- Pre-performance lecture begins at 6:30pm, prior to each performance. Led by Dr. Carolyn Morley, Professor of Japanese Literature and Theater at Wellesley College. Open and free for ticket holders only.
- Kyogen Movement Workshop for Kids Saturday, December 12, 10:30am - 12:00pm noon Led by members of the Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company, kids will enjoy a craft activity before becoming immersed in the world of traditional Japanese theater. Participants will learn about traditional Japanese theater through basic greetings, movements and the acting out of fun animals that appear in kyogen. Maximum 20 participants. Open to participants ages 5-12, accompanied by an adult. Participants must wear comfortable clothing. Tickets: $20/$17 Japan Society members (Tickets required for participating children only).
- Kyogen Workshop: Movement + Voice Saturday, December 12, 2:00 - 4:00pm Mansai Nomura and members of the Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company teach a workshop on the unique movements and vocalization found in kyogen, Japan's traditional theater form originally performed between noh acts for comic relief. Maximum 30 participants. Professional dance/movement experience required. Participants must wear socks and activewear (no jeans). Tickets: $55/$50 Japan Society members. Observer tickets may become available when participant tickets sell out.
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