The Center for Japanese Studies presents kyôgen plays in English

Join us for a fun evening of amusing theater in an intimate venue as Students of JPN 422 perform two rollicking short Japanese comedy plays

Thursday, JUNE 9, 2011 LINCOLN HALL STUDIO THEATER (Rm. 115) 7 PM.

ADMISSION FREE

(Left) Professor Larry Kominz’s students get an “A” for their performance if they can induce many spontaneous bursts of laughter from the audience. This pair went one better than that, and got their normally deadpan teacher to laugh too. (He’s behind them in the stage assistant’s seat) What are the servants eating out of the bucket that makes them so amused?

(Below) In “Tied to a Pole” a servant is tied to the stave that he’s so proud of wielding as a weapon. The master ties him up so he won’t steal the master’s wine while the master is away from the house. Will this bondage work? You know the answer, but his ingenuity is always fun to watch. Kyôgen is Japan’s equivalent to commediadel’ arte, and the servant Tarô is Arlequino’s Japanese brother. In these plays there will be a lot of energetic women playing male roles.

(Above) Master threatens servant, but of course the master is way too incompetent to actually be able to harm his servant, Tarô.