“Noh Reimagined” festival 2024 at Kings Place celebrated two masterpiece tragedies of traditional Japanese theatre: “Sumidagawa” and “Kinuta”.
Kinuta refers to a wooden or stone block used for pounding cloth to make it soft and bring out its lustre. The rhythmic beating of the kinuta is associated with the nightfall of late autumn nights and the solitude of an abandoned wife, as well as the fading love of the husband.
Zeami received much acclaim for establishing the style of dramaturgy called Mugen Noh, which involves dream states or visions intersecting with the present. This is represented in Noh plays such as “Izutsu (Well-Cradle)”. However, the older Zeami made another breakthrough in ‘Kinuta’ by combining Genzai Noh, which deals with events in real world, and Mugen Noh. In Kinuta, the wife appears on stage in the opening scene and dies at the end of the first part of the play. The first part of the play is in the style of Genzai Noh. She then reappears as a ghost in the second part, representing reality.
During Zeami’s era, Noh plays were shifting from the popular portrayal of “oni” (demons) to focusing on characters with inner struggles, which appealed more to the culturally educated class and gained support from the warrior class. In Kinuta, Zeami portrays these “demons of the heart” without outward anger, emphasizing the inner turmoil and delusions of humanity.
please read a wonderful article “Noh Reimagined & Noh Kinuta: A Beautiful Art Form Brought To Life”
Written by Pat Lyttle of & Asia
Sumidagwa (Sumida River), written by Kanze Motomasa (c.1394 – 1432), the eldest son of Zeami Motokiyo (c.1363 – c.1443), stands as one of the most renowned Noh plays of all time. It is a story about a mother whose son has been kidnapped. The mother embarks on a journey which ends in despair as she finds that her son died a year previously. The play’s timeless narrative of love and loss, famously inspired Benjamin Britten to compose Curlew River. For this rare performance of the play in the UK, Mikata Shizuka – one of the most esteemed Noh performers from Japan – will perform in the lead role as the mother.
The performance of Sumidagawa was preceded by a Noh Reimagined commissioned newly written English re-telling of the story ‘A Tale of the Sumida River,’ written by Xanthe Gresham Knight and Gareth Matey.The performance of Sumidagawa was preceded by a newly written English re-telling of the story, A Tale of the Sumida River, performed by Xanthe Gresham-Knight.
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“I cannot praise this two-day festival enough” ★★★★★
(Planet Huggil)
“Noh Reimagined showed that inspiration or collaboration can mean something other than wholesale adoption of sounds or ideas.”
(The Journal of Music)
“A Tale of the Sumida River” Team:
Akiko Yanagisawa (Creative Producer)
Xanthe Gresham-Knight (Co-writer and storyteller)
Gareth Mattey (Co-writer and dramaturg)
Carlos Davy (Sound design)
Noh performers at Noh Reimagined Festival 2024
Shizuka Mikata: shite actor, Kanze School
Seigo Mikuriya: waki actor, Hosho School
Gasho Yamanaka: shite actor, Kanze School
Kohei Kawaguchi: shite actor, Kanze School
Yasuki Kobayakawa: shite actor, Kanze School
Yasumitsu Kobayakawa: shite actor, Kanze School
Yasuhiro Sakoh: nohkan flute, Morita School
Tatsushi Narita: kotsuzumi shoulder drum, Ko School
Tetsuya Yamamoto: otsuzumi hip drum, Okura School
Monet Hirai: kokata ( child role) for Sumidagawa
Noh Reimagined Festival 2024 is produced by Akiko Yanagisawa ( Mu Arts/ Azuki Foundation)
Along with performances, a range of workshops, talks, and opportunities to meet and talk with Noh performers were planned
Festival Sponsors
