The 26th National Cultural Festival in Kyoto, 2011, Manga Art Festival
Akatsuka Fujio Manga University Exhibition
Neo kyogen X magan X comedia del arte : Akatsuka Fujio's world
Akatsuka Fujio is a manga artist who always tried to find laughter in the medium of "manga", and he created works that had philosophical depth.
Ogasawara Tadashi is a kyogen performer of the Izumi School who, preserving a centuries old tradition, has always strived to reinvent the genre by combining it with the Italian masque from "Comedia del arte". This project was born from a meeting of two artists who have tried to find the nature of the world, and the nature of human beings in laughter.
Akatsuka Fujio's immortal characters are imbued with new life in this story, that has incorporated elements from the Italian masque and is based on traditional kyogen repertoire.
Please enjoy this new world, a synthesis of kyogen, Akatsuka Fujio, and the Italian masque.
| Date and Time |
November 3, 5, and 6, 2011 1st performance: 1pm~ / 2nd performance: 3pm~ (About 45 minutes each) |
| Venue | Motorikyu Nijo Castle Ninomaru goden daidokoro |
| Performers | Ogasawara Tadasi Comedia del arte kenkyukai |
| Choreography | Ogasawara Tadasi |
| Fee | Free *A general admission ticket to the castle is required (Adults: 600yen, junior and high school students: 350yen, elementary school students: 200yen) *On Saturdays and Sundays children and junior high school students from inside Kyoto City can enter free of charge *If you show "The 26th National Cultural Festival - Kyoto 2011 Kyoto City Official Guidebook" at the entrance, there is a 100yen discount on admission for adults (only valid between 11/1 - 6) |
| Capacity | 120 people/each |
| Participation | registration is not required. However, if all seats are filled you may be refused entry. |
Organization : The Ministry of Culture , Kyoto Prefecture , Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education , Kyoto City , Kyoto City Board of Education , Kyoto International Manga Museum , The 26th National Culture Festival Kyoto Prefectural Executive Committee , The 26th National Culture Festival Kyoto City Executive Committee
Support : Fujio Pro
小笠原匡とコンメディア・デッラルテ研究会
About the Neo kyogen "Porcini"
"Porcini" means mushroom in Italian. This work is based on the kyogen performance "Kusabira", in which a mysterious mushroom keeps growing no matter how many times it is harvested. A warrior priest tries to stop it by praying, but the more he prays, the more the mushroom grows. "Kusabira" is a work of satire that pokes fun at the warrior priests in power at the time, and in it "reverence for nature" is an important theme. In this version of "Porcini", written by Ogasawara, a genius doctor who believes in the power of science, played by Iyami, is asked by Bakabon's dad to put the mushrooms, who are all shaped like Akatsuka characters, up against each other.
Familiar Akatsuka characters are expressed through kyogen and Comedia del arte, and while they invite laughter, they also make us think about the very present-day concern of "Nature versus civilization".
Ogasawara Tadashi
Born in Tokyo in 1965
He is a Nohgakushi of the Izumi school (And was assigned holder of Valuable Intangible Cultural Properties by the Japanese government).
He studied with Nomura Man the First, Nomura Manzo the Eight, and Nomura Manzo the Ninth. At present he is the Kansai area representative of "Yorozukyogen". He's performed not just in Japan but internationally too, like in France. He's an art advisor to NHK historical TV series, works as a Guest Professor at Chiba University, and is active in a number of other areas; more recently he has been studying the traditional Italian comic form "Comedia del arte", which has many similarities with kyogen, and has attempted to combine it with kyogen.
