Yamamoto Kyogen Company to Perform at University of Pittsburgh, 3/20

The University of Pittsburgh will hold a special presentation from The Asian Studies Center (UCIS) and the Japan Society on March 20th. The Yamamoto Kyogen Company will perform two plays Tsukimi Zato (Stop in Your Tracks) and Shido Hogaku (Moon-viewing Blind Man at Charity Randall Theatre (located on the main level of the Stephen Foster) at 8pm.

Tickets are free for Pitt students, faculty and staff and $15-$20 for the general public.

Please call 412-624-PLAY (7529) (Monday-Friday, Noon-5 p.m.) or visit http://www.play.pitt.edu/shows/tickets.html for tickets.

Three hundred years before Jonathan Swift, satire thrived in the form of kyogen, the Japanese comedic theater. Literally "mad words," kyogen originated during the samurai era and features humorous stories of daily life laced with biting social satire directed against the samurai class that was the main audience for the plays. Led by Yamamoto Noritoshi-designated as an Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government-Yamamoto Kyogen offers two kyogen comedies:

Shido Hogaku (Stop in Your Tracks): The classic kyogen tale of a master-servant relationship turned on its head. A servant is sent by his callous master on a shameful errand, and, in his spite, the servant vows to get his revenge. Hijinks ensue as the two engage in a riotous reversal of station, with the servant getting the last laugh.

Tsukimi Zato (Moon-viewing Blind Man): A farce in which a blind man meets a passerby on the road while enjoying a full moon and quickly becomes the object of a cruel trick perpetrated by the stranger.

The plays will be presented in Japanese with English subtitles.