A Tale of the Sumida River,” adapted from the Noh play “Sumidagawa” by Motomasa Kanze, featuring a new story co-written by Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Gareth Mattey, will premiere at Aldeburgh Festival followed by the performance of the classical Noh play “Sumidagawa”. The performance will repeat at Kings Place on 21st June.
Today the Sumida River snakes its way through the heart of Tokyo, its beating heart contained, flowing past temples and stadiums and into Tokyo Bay. But long ago the Sumida River flowed free, between marshes and fens, uncontrolled by human hands. This was a wild land – no Tokyo to speak of the capital and civilization itself lay far away to the west. To see a woman of the capital here alone, so far from home, bamboo branch in hand, was a clear sign to traveller and ferryman alike – the woman must be mad. For if not mad, what else could drive her desperate need to cross the Sumida River?
In this introduction to the Noh performance, the British storyteller relates the timeless narrative of Noh Play “Sumidagawa”, a meditation on love, loss, and the river that carries us all.
Xanthe Gresham-Knight
Xanthe Gresham- Knight has been a performance storyteller for 30 years. She has received numerous commissions from major institutions such as The British Museum and The Smithsonian and has been storyteller in Residence at Harvard University. She has also worked at The Chelsea Physic Garden and writes for Psychologies Magazine. She is the author of numerous books including Goddesses and Heroines (Thames and Hudson) and the Herba Mythica, the Myths and Folktales of Sacred Healing Plants (History Press). This is her first foray into Japanese literature and Noh Theatre and she is both honoured and grateful for the guidance of the creative team in working on this story for Noh play “Sumidagawa”.
Gareth Mattey
Gareth (pronouns they/them) is a writer, translator and dramaturg. A graduate of the Guildhall School’s MA in Opera Making and Writing, as well as New York University’s MFA in Dramatic Writing. Gareth recently returned from Japan where they have been further developing their creative practice and relationship with Japanese theatre, music, and media, with the support of a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholarship. Gareth’s engagement with both Noh and opera began when directing a student production of Curlew River in 2014, and they are incredibly excited to once again be working with the power and beauty of Noh. They have previously worked with Birmingham Opera Company, FAWN Chamber and Creative in Toronto, among others.
