‘Song of Rona Island’, inspired by ‘On Rona’ by Kathleen Jamie, follows a traveller on an ecological survey to an abandoned island in the Outer Hebrides, and their encountering its haunting past. Six noh performers – led by Kanji Shimizu – join forces with fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and Scottish smallpipes player Brighde Chaimbeul in a groundbreaking new work bringing together Scottish music and culture with Japanese noh theatre.
Kathleen Jamie – Author
Aidan O’Rouke – fiddle traveler
Brighde Chaimbeul – Scottish smallpipes
Kanji Shimizu (Kanze School) – Shite (main actor)
Takao Nishimura (Kanze School) – Jiutai (chorus)
Haruhiko Hasegawa (KanzeSchool) – Jiutai (chorus)
Satoshi Tsukitaku (Morita School) – Nohkan (Noh flute)
Naoya Toriyama (Kanze School) – Kotsuzumi (small hand drum)
Mitsuhiro Kakihara (Takayasu School) – Ōtsuzumi (large hand drum)
Gareth Mattey – Dramaturg
Akiko Yanagisawa – Director/ producer
Rona, a tiny island in the Outer Hebrides, was once home to a chapel founded by St Ronan in the 8th century, alongside a small farming community. The people of Rona were repeatedly devastated by famine and isolation until the island fell silent. Today, it is visited only by naturalists, sailors, and scientists who study its seabirds and seals. Kathleen Jamie’s essay ‘On Rona’ evokes both the island’s haunting past and its ecological present – between empty villages and declining seabird colonies, Rona displays an austere beauty marked by collapse.
Directed by Yanagisawa, in collaboration with artists and creative team, this story is reimagined through the dramaturgy of noh theatre, with St Ronan (played by a Noh shite actor) appearing in the dream of a contemporary Scottish traveller. Through dialogue, chant, and music, he recounts Rona’s histories of hardship and loss, while also invoking the island’s natural cycles, and its enduring spirit. As the traveller awakens, the memories of Rona Island linger, tinged with a longing to return. Originally conceived by Akiko Yanagisawa and Aidan O’Rourke for the Cultural Olympiad 2020 and further developed following a work-in-progress performance in Tokyo in 2024, the work received its world premiere at the Noh Reimagined 2025 festival in London.
