Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Kashu-juku Noh Theater Presents Traditional Japanese Performance at the Kimmel Center, March 21

MARCH 8, 2011

Kimmel Center Presents in Association with bowerbird

 

Kashu-juku Noh Theater performs 14th century traditional Japanese theater in celebration of the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, as part of the Kimmel Center Presents series, on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 7:30pm in Perelman Theater. The touring troupe brings to life centuries-old theatrical traditions, once performed at temples, shrines, and festivals, and combines elements of dance, drama, music, and poetry into highly-stylized stage art.

 

Artists and musicians perform a mai-bayashi dance performance from Yashima; a comedic kyogen play titled Boshibari (Tied to a Pole), and Aoi No Ue (Lady Aoi), a dramatic noh performance adapted from a chapter of the classic Japanese novel, Tale of Genji.  The Kimmel Center performance will be presented in Japanese with English subtitles.

 

Prior to the performance, a free pre-show lecture will take place at the Merck Arts Education Center at 6pm with Linda Chance, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Chance will give audiences a chance to learn more about Japanese culture and the history of Noh theater. As part of Penn's faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Professor Chance teaches classical Japanese language and literature, while assisting in promotion of and instruction in modern Japanese language.

 

Tickets for Kashu-juku Noh Theater are $25 and $40 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply). For group sales call 215-790-5883.

 

For an additional $20 ticket holders have the opportunity to attend a post-performance meet and greet reception immediately following the Kashu-juku Noh Theater performance. The reception ticket includes a complimentary beverage or small plate from the PECO bar by Wolfgang Puck, an opportunity to meet the actors of Kashu-juku Noh Theater and free entertainment on the plaza stage. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

 

Designated “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO, noh and kyogen are world-renowned forms of traditional Japanese theater with a more than 600-year-old history. Noh combines elements of dance, drama, music, and poetry into one highly-stylized stage art, while kyogen was developed to balance the serious nature of noh with short, comic interludes. Mai-bayashi, which literally translates to “dance and music,” is a shortened form of noh theater in which a shite, or principal character, performs the signature dance segment from a well-known noh play.

 

About the Performances

 

In the Kashu-juku Noh Theater’s mai-bayashi presentation, shite (principal character) Umewaka Naoyoshi will perform the climatic dance scene from Yashima, accompanied by a group of chanters and four musicians playing traditional noh instruments. Yashima recounts the story of the famous battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans in the late 12th century.

 

The evening’s second performance features shite Shigeyama Ippei in one of the most popular kyogen plays in traditional Japanese theater, Boshibari (or Tied to a Pole). In Boshibari, a master plans an outing but is distrustful of his servants, who have been known to steal his sake when he is away from home. In contrast to the expressionless quality of noh characters, kyogen performers depend on exuberant facial expressions for comedic effect.

 

Finally, in the noh performance of Aoi No Ue (or Lady Aoi), an ailing Lady Aoi is on her death bed, plagued by an evil spirit. The spirit, Lady Rokujo, is played by Katayama Shingo, lead shite from the Kashu-juku Noh Theater. One of the most famous noh plays, Lady Aoi is an adaptation of a chapter from the classic Japanese novel, Tale of Genji. Noh plays focus on tragic themes and portray symbolic, magical events through music and dance, while kyogen stories are derived from mundane subjects and depict daily life through dialogue and mime.

 

About the Performers

 

Founded by celebrated actor Katayama Shingo and comprised of Japan’s leading noh performers, the Kashu-juku Noh Theater is accompanied by kyogen actors from the Shigeyama family’s Star Kyogen Boys Troupe and Umewaka Naoyoshi from Umewaka Noh Theater.

 

Katayama Shingo (shite/principal character, Kashu-juku Noh Theater) made his stage debut in Tsurukame, Japan at the age of three. In addition to leading the Kashu-juku Noh Theater, Katayama has involved himself in many projects designed to widen noh’s appeal, including workshops both in Japan and abroad. Katayama has introduced noh through different platforms, including University lectures at Yale University and Georgetown University and performances in the Boston area as the leader of Kashu-juku Noh Theatre in 2009. Katayama teaches traditional theatre training courses in noh at the Kyoto Art Center, and directs the Kyoto University noh club. He received the Culture Award given by Kyoto Prefecture in 2007.

 

Umewaka Naoyoshi (shite/principal character, mai-bayashi) is the son of late Naoyoshi Umewaka, considered a legendary noh actor in Japan. Umewaka started to act at the age of three and played his first main role at the age of nine. A special guest in the Kashu-juku Noh Theater, Umewaka leads the Umewaka Noh Theater Troupe in Japan. He has composed, choreographed and directed a number of new noh plays, including “The Baptism of Jesus,” which was performed before Pope John Paul II in the Vatican Palace on Christmas Eve 1988. He also appeared as Emperor Hirohito in the 1995 film Hiroshima.

 

Shigeyama Ippei (shite/principal character, kyogen) formed the Star Kyogen Boys Troupe with brothers Shigeyama Shigeru and Shigeyama Motohiko in 1994. In 1995, he began a series of performances in Tokyo, and in the same year, began performing abroad in several locations, including Spain and Italy. In 2000, he formed Toppa! with Shigeyama Senzaburo, Shigeyama Motohiko, Shigeyama Shigeru and Shigeyama Doji. In addition to kyogen, he has performed in a number of films, TV drama series as well as in contemporary theater and commercials in Japan.

Kashu-juku Noh Theater

Perelman Theater

Monday, March 21 at 7:30pm

 

Yashima (Mai-bayashi)

Performer

Yoshitsune’s Spirit (Shite/Principal Character): Umewaka Naoyoshi

 

Musicians

Fue (Noh flute): Sako Yasuhiro

Ko-Tsuzumi (Small Hand Drum): Narita Tatsushi

O-Tsuzumi (Large Hand Drum): Kawamura Masaru

Ji-Utai (Chorus): Onishi Fumihisa, Oe Nobuyuki, Fukano Takahiko

 

Boshibari (Kyogen)

Performers

Jiro-Kaja (Shite/Principal Character): Shigeyama Ippei

Taro-Kaja (Ado/Companion): Shigeyama Doji

Master (Ado/Companion):  Shimada Hiromi

 

Aoi No Ue –Lady Aoi (Noh)

Performers

Living Spirit of Lady Rokujo (Shite/Principal Character): Katayama Shingo

Teruhi, a sorceress (tsure/companion): Tamoi Hiromichi

Priest from Yokawa (waki/secondary character): Hara Masaru

Court Official (waki-tsure/ secondary companion): Arimatsu Ryoichi

Servant of the Court Official (Ai/interlude narrator): Shigeyama Ippei

 

Musicians       

Fue (Noh flute): Sako Yasuhiro

Ko-Tsuzumi (Small Hand Drum): Narita Tatsushi

O-Tsuzumi (Large Hand Drum): Kawamura Masaru

Taiko (Drum): Maekawa Mitsunori

Ji-Utai (Chorus): Yamamoto Hiromichi, Umewaka Naoyoshi, Onishi Fumihisa, Terasawa Kosuke, Mikata Madoka, Fukano Takahiko

 

The 2011 North American Kashu-juku Noh Theater Tour is organized and produced by Japan Society, New York and supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. The regional tour of Kashu-juku is made possible by a grant from Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

The Philadelphia premier of Kashu-juku Noh Theater is presented in association with bowerbird and with the generous promotional assistance of the Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia. Bowerbird is a Philadelphia based nonprofit organization that presents music and interdisciplinary events by local and internationally recognized artists at a variety of venues across the region. The mission of bowerbird is to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of provocative and divergent music traditions by providing numerous and diverse opportunities to directly experience the work of today’s leading artists.

Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center.  Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts’ Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience from throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. The 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Citi, and the Broadway 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Verizon, and American Airlines.  For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.  

> index of news releases
> For more information, and to request high resolution images for press use, send us a message online.