Kyoto performance reviews

Q Madama Butterfly Japan premiere @ Rohm Theatre:  A caterpillar pinned and wriggling: Sept 16,17 2022 https://rohmtheatrekyoto.jp/en/event/71137/ This shocking and fierce fantasy by female playwright Ichihara Satoko premiered in September 2021 in Switzerland, a collaboration of Ichihara’s Q company and the Zurich’s Neumarkt theatre, then toured Austria and German this spring. This review was written after viewing the premiere of Q Madama Butterfly in Japan at the Rohm Theatre, Kyoto on Sept 16 and 17, and chatting with some actors afterwards. There was little in the program notes or online, and I have not yet read the script (published in Mook Kotabato Vol. 3) http://www.kankanbou.com/books/kotobato/0455 so offer these immediate impressions hoping that my more experienced and fluent colleagues may correct me. As a compilation of two viewings, they are also a bit confused, stimulated but revulsed, applauding as it were with one thumb down.                                              *

July 9th 2022    Cutting Edge 狂言: God & Demon Shigeyama kyogen youth fooling around with new kyogen and sketch comedy (performances ongoing in August ) https://kyotokyogen.com/schedule/0820cek/ Kyogen programs are usually one-time only events. Three or four plays are put together according to seasonal appropriateness and variety, as well as technical ability to change costumes and casting balance. While single kyogen are the requisite filler between the somber noh, all-kyogen programs have been an increasing part of the post-War theatrical scene. Annual family shows spotlight brothers or fathers and sons, or celebrate receiving an award or honoring an ancestor’s death anniversary. These well-publicized programs often feature rare, large-cast plays, and newly created plays that  stretch the abilities of the extended family members. Held on noh stages but also civic and prefectural halls, their leaflet designs have recently features colorful montages of photos of previous shows, prom