Japan Foundation Presents KYOGEN at 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival, 3/26 & 3/27

The Japan Foundation is excited to announce performances of Kyogen by the esteemed Sengoro Shigeyama Family during the 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival. One of the many cultural events being presented as part of JAPAN: Nature and Culture for the Future in cities including Washington, DC and Chicago, the Shigeyama Family will present performances of Japanese comic drama, as well as workshops demonstrating their craft.

With JAPAN: Nature and Culture for the Future, The Japan Foundation is presenting events that introduce audiences to various aspects of Japanese culture. These events will focus on Japanese aesthetic values and way of life which have contributed to the harmony between man and nature. Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan.

SCHEDULE

- Kyogen Performance (3 plays): Friday, March 26, 7pm. Studio Theatre. FREE, but reservations required at aikoichimura@erols.com. Studio Theatre is located at 1501 14th Street, NW.

- Kyogen Workshop: Friday, March 26, 3pm. Studio Theatre. All ages, lasts approximately 90 minutes. A few participants will be chosen to perform in one play at that evening's performance. FREE, but reservations required as space is limited at aikoichimura@erols.com.

- Kyogen Workshop: Friday, March 26, 3pm. Studio Theatre. All ages, lasts approximately 90 minutes. A few participants will be chosen to perform in one play at that evening's performance. FREE, but reservations required as space is limited at aikoichimura@erols.com.

- Kyogen Performance (1 short play): Saturday, March 27, 4pm. Part of the Opening Ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. National Building Museum. There will be a short workshop from 12:45-1:15pm similar to above. A few participants will be chosen to perform in the play during the Opening Ceremony performance. FREE, open to the public. General info on Opening Ceremony: ncbf@downtowndc.org or 1877-44BLOOM. The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street, NW.

For this engagement, three Kyogen plays will be performed: Sambaso, Kaki Yamabushi (The Persimmon Thief) and Kusabira (Mushrooms). A short version of Sambaso will be performed during the Opening Ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

(There will also be performances of Kyogen at the University of Chicago on March 23 & 24. Info at http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/culture/new/us2010/theatre.html)

KYOGEN

Kyogen is a major form of traditional Japanese plays that was created during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) along with Noh, tragic musical drama with dance and chant. Though Kyogen developed alongside Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, and retains close links to Noh in the modern period, its content is not at all similar to the formal, symbolic, and solemn Noh theater. Kyogen is an easily understood comedic spoken drama, its primary goal being to make its audience laugh and relax as an intermission from the solemnity of Noh theater.

Kyogen performers are all male. Even those actors performing women's roles express their emotions with their own faces; they perform in Japanese traditional costume without any make-up, freely using very unique vocalization and particular methods of gliding steps. Masks are not worn for the most part, except when the actors play the roles of Gods and animals.

There are total more than 180 programs in Kyogen, whose themes are all based on the everyday life of The Common people. Audiences enjoy its spoken comedic illustration of the essence of universal and never-changing human nature.

PERFORMERS

The history of Kyoto's Kyogen performers, the Sengoro Shigeyama Family, dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867). The first- to fourth-generations of the Shigeyama Family were known to be equestrian instructors. Records show that the family engaged in Kyogen acting beginning with its fifth generation. Ninth-generation Sengo-Masatora Shigeyama caught the eye of a high-ranking government official who took him under the wing of his own clan. When asked his name, the lord misheard "Sengo" for "Sengoro", and from then on the head of the family was to be named Sengoro. Today, Sengoro, the head of the 13th generation, leads the family in spreading and sustaining Kyogen's 400-year history in Kyoto.

There is a saying that runs in the Sengoro Shigeyama Family that goes, "Be a tofu-like Kyogen actor." These words began as a result of ridicule against Sensaku Shigeyama II. At a time when Kyogen and Noh were only performed for the selected elite, Sensaku II went out to various common festivities to perform. Because tofu is known as a convenient dish when there is nothing else to eat with your rice, people ridiculed Sensaku II by calling his Kyogen tofu. He turned the insults to his favor saying "Tofu is not expensive or fancy in itself, but depending on how it is prepared, it can become a delicacy, or it can become a humble side dish for the family table. I shall perform Kyogen to please anyone, anywhere." Ever since, this story has been told through the generations and has now become a family pledge. Indeed, this is the spirit of the Shigeyama Family.

The Japan Foundation is Japan's leading public organization dedicated to international cultural exchange. They foster greater awareness and understanding of Japan in the US and around the world through a broad range of programs for individuals and institutions encompassing arts and culture, Japanese Studies and intellectual exchange and Japanese language education.

STORY OUTLINES 

Sambaso

This is a sacred dance in celebration of fertility and of good harvest, performed at New Years, theater openings and other ceremonies; it is a noble piece of extremely high ranking, solemn and elegant, yet somewhat humorous. Sambaso, an old man, along with a young man Senzai will come up to the stage, to the accompaniment of fue (flute), otsuzumi (Knee Drum) and kotsuzumi (Shoulder Drum), to show the dance consisting of two parts: "Momi-no-Dan," a lively heroic dance, in the style of plowing the fields, to unique voices calling in time to the rhythms created by the instruments; and the solemn and dryly humorous "Suzu-no-Dan," danced by a suntanned old farmer wearing a black mask and shaking bells, symbolic of happiness and harmony.
This dance is such a highly formal piece that the actors have a tradition of purifying themselves before performing this on stage.Sambaso is called "being stomped," rather than "being danced," as the actor stomps in time to the rhythm of the flute, drums and wooden clappers.
Kaki Yamabushi (The Persimmon Thief)

On his way back to the Dewa Mountains from ascetic training in Katsuragi, a hungry mountain priest stops to eat a persimmon from a tree by the road. He climbs the tree to get the fruit. The Farmer who owns the tree sees him and becomes angry, but pretends not to notice the priest. Teasingly, The Farmer shouts things like, "That must be a bird," or "It's a monkey, not doubt." Not wanting to be discovered, the priest responds by making sounds of the animals referred to by The Farmer. Finally, The Farmer says, "I'm sure it's a kite. But then again, a kite would spread its wings to fly. If it does not spread its wings, the figure must be that of a man." The priest who falls for it, jumps out of the tree, making the sounds of a kite, and then...

Kyogen is very convenient in that anything can be imagined as actually being there. This play fully expresses the imagination, delighting the audience with a world of possibilities on a simple stage.

Kusabira (Mushrooms)

A man had big mushrooms growing in his house. He picked them and picked them, but they still kept growing. Not knowing what else to do, he asked the mountain priest to perform a prayer so that the mushrooms would go away. The priest begins his prayer, but the mushrooms continue to grow at an even faster pace, troubling the priest and the homeowner. The harder the priest prays, the more the mushrooms grow...

This Kyogen resembles science fiction, with the unusual behavior of mushrooms popping up here and there, half bent over. For today's performance the mushrooms will be played by students and children in Chicago/Washington displaying what they accomplished during the workshops they attended.

For more information, visit http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/index.html