Hanjo and The Lady Aoi: Yukio Mishima’s Modern Noh Plays

The arresting works of infamous novelist Yukio Mishima have elicited extreme responses over the decades. His modern noh plays from the 1960s were radical adaptations of the seminal noh classics, pitting stark traditional ideals against the dullness of modern existence. In this exploration of the impact of Mishima’s modern noh plays, Leon Ingulsrud of the SITI Company stages a reading of Hanjo, in which a young woman’s endless waiting for her lover transports her into a state of insanity; and New York-based director Kameron Steele and his company The South Wing stage a workshop of Aoi! based on Mishima’s The Lady Aoi, a bizarre love triangle touched by supernatural jealousy.