We are delighted to invite you to a rare and unique programme of classical and contemporary noh ‘Takasago & Between the Stones’ to celebrate Japan Season of Culture in the year of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Noh is a highly aesthetic classical Japanese theatre style featuring dance, music and poetry. Acclaimed artists Teruhisa and Kinue Oshima, and Akira Matsui, collaborate with Jannette Cheong and Richard Emmert once again in celebration of the 2020 Japan Season of Culture.
Date: Sunday, 2nd February 2020
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Venue: The National Opera House, High Street, Wexford
Tickets: €25 Book here!
The programme:
Takasago, written by Zeami, is one of the most important and well known plays in the classical noh repertoire. It deals with the legend of the twin pines of Sumiyoshi and Takasago. According to legend, the spirit of the Sumiyoshi pine travels across Osaka Bay nightly to visit his wife, the Takasago pine, in a bond that transcends space and time. Takasago will be performed as han-noh, literally a “half noh”, featuring the very quick and strong second half of the play.
Between the Stones is the third collaboration between author Jannette Cheong and founder of Theatre Nohgaku, Richard Emmert, and the second co-production with Unanico. It explores how the burden of grief turns into a celebration of life, friendship and love, through the healing power of gardens. The lead role will be played by Kinue Oshima, the only professional female noh actor in the Kita school. Kinue Oshima was also the lead actor in the first Cheong-Emmert collaboration, Pagoda (2009) – the first time that the Oshima Theatre and Theatre Nohgaku worked together on a joint production. Pagoda had its world premiere at the Southbank Centre in 2009 and went on to tour Dublin, Oxford and Paris and then opened at the National Noh Theatre in Tokyo in 2011 and toured to Kyoto, Beijing (at the National Centre for the Performing Arts) and Hong Kong. Pagoda was the first time for a British artist to write a new contemporary noh using classical techniques.
More information: https://www.nationaloperahouse.ie/whats-on/show/takasago-between-the-stones
Please see official event leaflet HERE!
This collaboration is co-produced with Unanico in association with the Oshima Theatre and Theatre Nohgaku and supported by Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric and the Ireland-Japan Association.