May Kyogen Mayhem

Theatre of Yugen continues it’s 38-year tradition of presenting Japanese Kyogen comedy in English, with our spring performance of two bite-size plays. We’re looking at what happens when you take something old and something new and mix ’em together.

We begin the evening with the English-language premiere of the classic Kyogen play Nukegara (The Demon’s Shell). Laugh with us at this cross between a buddy comedy and a comedy of manners, as the Master teaches his servant Taro the value of holding your liquor. And then enjoy a meditation on the ephemeral nature of sound and time, with Tomorrow’s Sound, a brand-new play written and composed by Zhoushu Herakleitos Ziporyn. Performance techniques from Kyogen, Noh, and Kabuki infuse the piece, set against a completely original soundscape.