Being chased by madcap mushrooms, dealing with persimmon thieves and celebrating good harvests have been all in a day's work over the last 400 years for the Shigeyama family of the Okura School of Kyogen Theater.
The Shigeyama family will be at International House on Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24 to perform Kyogen, a form of traditional Japanese theater that uses comedy and satire to approach everyday situations. The 7 p.m. shows are part of the International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series.
As part of its stop at the University of Chicago, the Shigeyama family has invited 17 students from Murray Language Academy, a partner school of UChicago's Neighborhood Schools Program. The six- to 12-year-old students, who study Japanese, French and Spanish, will participate in a Kyogen workshop on March 22, and then will perform on stage as the crazy mushrooms in "Kusabira" in both shows.
"This is a great opportunity because it is a life-learning experience that they cannot get from a textbook," said Kazue Mosel, the Japanese teacher at Murray, who helped arrange the opportunity with the Japan Information Center in Chicago.
Sixty local high school students also have been invited for a workshop with the Kyogen performers on March 24, when they will be introduced to the basics of movement and performance and experience a traditional Japanese bento box lunch.
Kyogen predates the 14th century and uses song, exaggerated movements and facial expressions, and onomatopoeias to deliver its comedic form, which can be understood without knowledge of Japanese. Although it is traditionally performed as an interlude to the more serious Japanese Noh dramas, the Okura School will focus exclusively on three Kyogen plays: "Kaki Yamabushi" (The Persimmon Thief), "Kusabira" (Mushrooms) and "Sanbaso" (a celebration of fertility, good harvests and the New Year).
"Often foreign audiences are treated to a very limited range of images of pre-modern Japan," said Reginald Jackson, Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. "The more dynamic interactions of Kyogen add a dimension to traditional Japan that would otherwise not be visible. It tends to surprise people. Kyogen gives you a better sense of what is really happening on the ground-the day-to-day foibles."
The performances are free and open to the public; Register here. For more information contact Mary Beth DeStefano at 773-753-2274 or visit http://ihouse.uchicago.edu.
-Sarah Galer
