In Memoriam: Mitsuo Kama
An issue dedicated to Mitsuo Kama - remembering a friend and mentor.
With partial support from the Japan Foundation New York, Theatre Nohgaku is happy to be given to opportunity to present workshops and a performance as part of the Hampden-Sydney College Music Series in March, 2012 in Hampden-Sydney Virginia. Led by Artistic Director Richard Emmert, the activities will include the premiere performance of the chamber piece Atsumori in Japanese and English.
On March 19th TN members will visit classrooms and present workshops to introduce students to the fundamental components of noh music including voice and the four instruments (taiko, otsuzumi, kotsuzumi and nohkan.) A variety of topics related to the Japanese art of noh and TN’s work in English will also be presented.
A performance will be held the evening of the 19th featuring several shimai in both Japanese and English, as well as maibayashi. The chamber piece Atsumori will be performed as part of a new initiative to present smaller scale productions in both Japanese and English as part of our mission to share noh with new and wider audiences worldwide.
Dear Friends,
Theatre Nohgaku is an emerging company with a unique mission, and we're about to turn a corner. Our recent collaboration with the Oshima Noh Theatre has brought our work to stages in Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing and Hong Kong, where it has achieved critical acclaim. We’ve continued to advance our mission of finding new writers of English noh, even as we direct limited company resources towards further intensive training for our members and the development of new work.
But for TN to continue its recent success, we need you. Will you help us by making a donation to Theatre Nohgaku this holiday season?
It has been five years since we last asked for financial support from Friends of TN. Since then, we've made four major, fully produced tours, which included European (Southbank Centre, London) and Asian (National Noh Theatre, Tokyo) premiers. We've also sponsored annual writers workshops, advanced writers workshops and workshops in noh music, have added nine new members and have held regular training and rehearsal periods. All of these projects involved considerable expense.
In addition to our schedule of annual workshops, our plans for the coming months include exciting new initiatives. We are developing small-cast chamber works, which will allow us to expand and diversify our outreach efforts. In June 2012, we are conducting our first workshop in noh costuming, a collaboration with the Oshima family and renowned scholar/practitioner Monica Bethe.
Your donation plays a central role in bringing these plans to fruition. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will go a long way. We are also pleased to offer a few incentives, enumerated on our web page. But whatever the amount, please consider Theatre Nohgaku in your giving plans this year.
My very best to you and yours this holiday season!
Richard Emmert
Artistic Director
Theatre Nohgaku announces its first Noh Costuming Workshop, to be held June 12-20, 2012 in Kyoto and Fukuyama, Japan. This unprecedented opportunity will include comprehensive lectures (in English) on costuming in noh; an invitation to watch a noh rehearsal, or moshiawase; attendance of live performances; guided visits to a professional noh costume maker, costume museum or other relevant sites; and the rare opportunity to view, practice and participate in the tightly choreographed process of dressing and being dressed in noh costumes, guided by professional noh actors.
Conducting lectures and other portions of the workshop will be well-known author, scholar and practitioner of noh, Monica Bethe. Professional actors of the Oshima Noh family, including Kinue Oshima, will demonstrate the use and donning of garments, and will lead participants in hands-on demonstrations. Also assisting will be members of Theatre Nohgaku, including long-time practitioner and Theatre Nohgaku founding Artistic Director, Richard Emmert.
Costuming in noh—the maintenance, donning, on and off-stage changes, shedding, folding and general care of precious garments—is generally done by the actors themselves, and the esteemed role of the dresser is usually performed by 2-3 experienced actors, per actor being dressed. A quick change, necessitated when the same actor plays both the mae-shite and nochi-shite roles in the same play, is an extraordinary thing to behold.
Quick Facts:
Theatre Nohgaku Noh Costuming Workshop
• Location: Kyoto and Fukuyama, Japan
• Dates: June 12-20, 2012
• Price ¥85,000 (approximately $1100) includes all lectures, performances, workshops and various other workshop-related activities. Travel, lodging and food costs are not included, but assistance will be available for arranging hotel accommodations and domestic (within Japan) travel.
Questions?
For more information and how to register,
please contact Tom O'Connor:
Our 2011 Asia Tour of Takasago & Pagoda has successfully concluded.
We were very happy to have been given the opportunity to work so closely with the wonderful people in the Oshima Noh Theatre group during our performances in Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Please have a look at some of the things that people are saying about the tour:
China National Television feature video:
http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20110706/103932.shtml
The Japanese Embassy in Hong Kong:
http://www.hk.emb-japan.go.jp/eng/cultural_activities.html#20110718
Japanese language:
http://heiankyo.cocolog-nifty.com/heiankyo/2011/07/post-8e6a.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/namidanezumi/archives/51736047.html
http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/entertainment/tradition/CK201107030200...
http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/entertainment/tradition/CK201107030200...
http://ameblo.jp/tadaki-hashimoto/entry-10939463623.html
http://geocities.yahoo.co.jp/gl/shojitsukai/view/20110701/1309490249
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/noctifer/20110630
Hungarian language:
http://www.prae.hu/prae/articles.php?aid=3990&cat=4
2011 Asia Tour: Takasago & Pagoda Cover
Theatre Nohgaku at Boston University by Carrie Preston
1st Noh Music Workshop by Kevin Salfen
Workshop in Bogota by Richard Emmert
In Memoriam: Mitsuo Kama by Tom O'Connor
Crazy Jane at BTE by David Surtasky
Notes from the Chorus by Matthew R. Dubroff
Weight of Form by Naoko Maeshiba
Guest Feature: Forrest Coggan's ToYoZa, Theatre of the Far East by Carrie Preston
Interview with Colleen Lanki by Joyce S. Lim
An Author Reflects by Jannette Cheong
Advanced Writers Workshop by David Surtasky
8th Annual Writers Workshop by John Oglevee
Interview with Kinue Oshima by David Crandall
Interview with Matt Dubroff by Tom O'Connor
Noh Training Project Celebrates 15 years: Funabenkei by Elizabeth Dowd
A Noh Experience at University of Hawaii: Sumidagawa by John Oglevee
Interviews with Elizabeth Dowd and Rick Emmert
Great theatre art is a collaborative process among people who come together to share a common vision, and a common goal.
Theatre Nohgaku is extremely grateful for our 2011 Asia Tour sponsors and contributors, without which our art would not be possible:
Bunkacho (文化庁) [Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs]
Mitsubishi ElectricSMBC Europe
British Council (Japan, China, Hong Kong)
National Centre for The Performing Arts (Beijing)
Peking University (Institute of World Theatre and Film)
Central Academy for Drama (Beijing)
Workshops for the International Arts Carnival are presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong.
Many thanks to all of the above for their support of this collaborative international project, and our sincere appreciation for their assistance.
