衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

Kyogen is genre of simple and improvised comedy. The language is widely derived from proverbs. The plot is generally collected from folklore, mocking the samurai and the nobles with sharp sartire. Thus, kyogen is more popular than Noh theatre to the general publics, and becomes one of the most typical form of folk art.

This program delivers three masterpieces of Japanese traditional kyogen: Fukuro Yamabushi, staring Yuki Nomura, narrates a story of the elder brother who asks Yamabushi to pray for his shocked younger brother after a strange encounter on the mountain. Kawakami, staring Mansaku Nomura, depicts a battle between humans and fate full of dramatic tension. Boshibari, staring Mansai Nomura, presents a kyogen canon of humorous master-servant interaction. We sincerely hope to introduce the beauty of traditional Japanese performing arts to the Taiwanese audience.

THE MANSAKU-NO-KAI KYOGEN COMPANY

The Mansaku-on-Kai Kyogen Company was founded by Mansaku NomuraII, and is now led by Mansaku and his son, Mansai II, member of a distinguished familial theatrical line that boasts a 250-year-history.Since the company's first tour abroad to the Paris International Theater Festival in 1957, Mansaku has been a pioneer in sharing the art of kyogen with international audiences, giving performances and lectures throughout the world. Continuing his father's mission, Mansai performs kyogen extensively, and is committed to exploring the possibilities of kyogen as a contemporary of Japan as a Living National Treasure. Two members of Mansaku-no-Kai, Mansai Nomura and Yukio Ishida, have been designated as holders of Important Intangible Cultural Property.

MANSAKU NOMURA

MANSAKU NOMURA is a Living National Treasure of Japan, born in 1931, the second son of the late Manzo Nomura VI, who was also a Living National Treasure. Mansaku studied kyogen under his grandfather Mansai Nomura I and his father, Manzo. At the age of three, Mansaku made his stage debut in the role of little Monkey in Utsubozaru. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Japanese Literature. An outstanding leader in the kyogen world, with his unparalleled stage performances of even the most demanding traditional kyogen pieces such as Tsurigitune, Mansaku has also acted in modern and contemporary theater works, including Pierrot Lunaire, Shigosen no Matsuri (The Rite of Meridian) directed by Junji Kinoshita, and Shukoh with Zhang Jiqing. Mansaku also created and directed the “new” kyogen piece, The Braggart Samurai, based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, which toured to Hong Kong and Australia and was also presented at the Japan Society in 1997.

Since 1957, Mansaku has been active in leading kyogen workshops throughout the world at venues including the University of Washington, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii as a visiting Professor. Mansaku is the recipient of numerous awards including The Asahi Prize, Grand-prix of the Art Festival run by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the government of Japan, the Tsubouchi Shoyo Prize, the Kinokuniya Theatre Award and the Purple Ribbon Medal by the Japanese government. In 2015, Mansaku was honored with the Cultural Achievement Award by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology of the government of Japan, the highest ranked award offered to artists.

MANSAI NOMURA was born in 1966 and studied under his father Mansaku II and his late grandfather Manzo VI (both Living National Treasures). He made his stage debut at the age of three. His acclaimed performances go far beyond those of traditional kyogen and noh actors – he also played the title roles of Oedipus, directed by Yukio Ninagawa, and Hamlet, directed by Jonathan Kent. He has starred in hit Japanese movies such as Akira Kurosawa's Ran, Yohjro Takita's Onmyoji and Isshin Inudo and Masatsugu Higuchi's The Floating Castle [2012]. As well as acting, he is committed to directing plays that merge classic and contemporary, East and West. In addition to his own creations of “new” kyogen pieces including The Kyoden of Errors, based on Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, which toured to London's Globe Theatre in 2002 and to the U.S. in 2005, his directing credits include Kuni-nusu-bito ( from Richard III), Yabu no Naka ( In a Thicket), Kagamikaja (Mirror Servant) and Atsushi ( from the late Atsushi Nakajima’s Sangetsu-ki and Meijinden), for which he was awarded the Asahi Performing Arts Award and the Kinokuniya Theatre Award in 2005 for direction and composition. In 2013, Mansai performed in the traditional piece SANBASO, divine dance, a collaboration with world-renowned visual artist Hiroshi Sugimoto that was co-presented by the Japan Society and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and took place in the Guggenheim rotunda. In 2013, Mansai also brought to the Japan Society his production of Macbeth, in which he directed and played the title role. He has received the National Arts Festival New Artists Award and the Ministry of Education's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists. Mansai holds the distinction of important intangible Cultural Property: Nohgaku. He has been the Artistic Director of Setagaya Public Theatre since 2002, and the Chif Exectiv Creativ Derector of Tokyo 020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Creative and Production Team

Cast｜Mansaku Nomura 、Mansai Nomura 、Kazunori Takano、 Shuichi Nakamura 、 Yuki Nomura 、 Go Ilda、Tanron Ishita
Company Manager｜Shimizu Kaoru
Stage Manager｜Yasutaka Katsu
Light Design｜Kousuke Sugimoto
Light Technology｜Takehiko Maruyama
Stage Assistant｜Rieko Saiki

Stage Technician｜Naoto Oguri 

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