Imagine 3 hours of this, under the stars, with a thousand audience members. It begins with the Kyogen performers, then on to a Noh drama.
Here is a special preview performance recorded by the event. As silly as that was, I guess it worked since I bought my own set.
One of the Kyogen performers even poked fun at the DVD set they were selling aggressively throughout the show. It served as a break between the intensity of each Noh performance. I became very interested in Kyogen, since I have a passion for stylized comedy. They are more comedic interludes, still performed in a Noh style, but it is text heavy without music or chorus. In between each masked drama was a Kyogen performance. The musicians then enter, followed by the masked dancer. Each Noh performance begins with the chorus entering from the runway stage right. There were three masked dramas accompanied by a chorus of singers stage left and a live musicians upstage center. There are several Noh theaters in Kyoto, where performances take place weekly, but this event outdoors only occurs once a year. The stage is built right in front of the Heian Shrine, which is one of the city's most important shrines dedicated to the first and last emperors of the city. The fire is meant to light the entire performance, but there is a bit of help from technology to add a natural glow to the performances onstage. There are two attendants dressed in white head to toe whose job is to make sure the fire continues to burn throughout the 3 hour evening. Torches of fire pits line the front of the stage, and are lit after a ceremonial opening from the head of Kyoto's Noh Society and the Mayor of Kyoto. The Noh Stage is a temporary one built of wood and bamboo. My sensei Michishige suggested I begin my training watching this performance, and it was truly unforgettable. Although there are not many people who study Noh, it is very popular among Japanese elders and traditional performance enthusiasts. Ticket prices are about $50 each and it seats at a first come first serve basis. For 2 nights, once a year, Kyoto’s renowned Noh schools perform at Heian Jingu Shrine for a thousand audience members. The first stop is attending the Takigi O-Noh, or also known as the Bonfire Performance. My journey on my fellowship continues as I move to Japan to embark on an intensive journey to study Noh with the great masters.
I knew that one day I would act on this obsession in a deeper way. For our production in at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Brooklyn Academy of Music, we trained our ensemble in this form and I became hooked. I learned that he used man elements of Noh theatre in this film, and this was the essential element for our production. As Ping’s associate, I watched the film for hours and became entranced by the beautiful stillness in Lady Asaji. I personally became interested in Noh working on Ping Chong’s adaptation of Akira Kurowsawa’s stage adaptation of Throne of Blood. Characterized by slow subtle movements, ornate costumes, and hand-carved wooden masks, this form is most appreciated by an older Japanese audience. It has been said to be one of the oldest forms of theatre dating back the the 14th century. It is a musical drama using dance, masks, live music, and chanting. Noh Theatre is one of the oldest forms of performance in Japan.
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