ACM THEATRE

Introduction to Traditional Performance Art: KyogenNomura Mansaku Excerpts #22

Actors: Nomura Mansaku II, Nomura Mansai II, et al.

A popular program that gets sold out every year. Renga Nusubito employs renga, a kind of collaborative poetry that caught on wildly in medieval Japan, with two or more people exchanging impromptu readings of choku (stanzas of 5-7-5 syllables) and tanku (stanzas of 7-7 syllables). Incidentally, the first stanza of renga evolved into the modern haiku.

Nomura Mansaku II (b. 1931) and his son Nomura Mansai II (b. 1966) are veterans of the form, and you will be sure to enjoy their show. Meanwhile, Rokujizo is a boisterous play that involves the actors running busily around the stage. The skillful use of the main stage and the backstage highlight the expressive styles uniquely available to kyogen comic theater.