“Izutsu” from Noh Reimagined 2018, June 29, Kings Place. Photo by Shitong Zang
“Noh Movement Workshop: Acting from Inside” from Noh Reimagined 2018, June 30, Kings Place. Photo by Shitong Zang
“Echoes and Callings” from Noh Reimagined 2018 by Wiebke Leister (photo art), David Toop (music), Yukihiro Isso (nohkan flute) June 30, Kings Place Photo by Shitong Zang
Following the highly successful 2016 festival, Noh Reimagined returned to Kings Place London in 2018. The 2018 festival focused on the unique dramaturgy of Mugen (‘phantasmal’) Noh, in which the main actor (shite) appears as a ghost in the dream of a travelling monk.
Six Noh performers from Japan worked with innovative British artists and neuroscientists in genre-defying collaborations to examine the surreal artistic elements of Noh. The 2018 festival explored time, space and symbolism in Noh theatre through interdisciplinary performances, workshops and talks.
In Café OTO, a renown live music venue in East London, four Noh performers explored improvisation with local avant-garde musicians.
As part of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Spain, Noh Reimagined 2018 was invited to perform at Teatro Salón Cervantes Escenarios, Clásicos en Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.
■Noh performers：Yukihiro Isso (nohkan, flute), Masaki Umano (shite, main actor), Jiichi Asami (koken, shite, main actor), Kyosuke Tanabe (kotsuzumi, shoulder drum), Mitsuhiro Kakihara (otsuzumi, hip drum), Kiyoshi Yoshitani (taiko, stick drum)
■Collaborators in London： Clod Ensemble (performing arts company), Wiebke Leister (photo artist), David Toop (sound artist), Leon Michener (keyboard player), Neus Torres Tamarit & Ben Murray (“Phenotypica”, installation), Roger Turner (percussion）, Ute Kanngeiser (cello)
■Neuroscientists: Professor Atsushi Iriki (Riken), Professor Semir Zeki (University College London)
■Noh researchers: Professor Reiko Yamanaka, Professor Keizo Miyamoto (Noh Theatre Research Institute, Hosei University)
International Noh Project Committee aims to promote Noh, the traditional performing arts of Japan through international collaborations with artists of contemporary and traditional arts forms, and contribute to the development of cultural exchanges and creative arts productions. Since 2016, it has produced and curated two Noh Reimagined festivals at Kings Place, London. Also it presented Noh performances and workshops at Institute of Japanese Culture in Rome and Teatro Salón Cervantes Escenarios as part of Clásicos en Alcalá festival in Madrid, Spain.
International Noh Project Committee (Established: January 2015)
Akiko Yanagisawa (Representative, Producer)
Yukihiro Isso (Noh performer, Deputy Representative)
Yuriko Mizoe (Accounting and Administration)
Yuuki Yokoishi (Audit)
Atsushi Iriki (Advisor)
Akiko Yanagisawa
Producer
International Noh Project Committee
E-mail： info@issoyukihiro.com
Kings Place, London, UK
Café OTO, London, UK
Antiguo Hospital de Santa María La Rica, Madrid, Spain
Teatro Salon Cervantes Escenarios [Clásicos en Alcalá festival], Madrid, Spain
