Post by nobunaga on Nov 14, 2018 14:34:51 GMT
Last year I wrote about a Noh production at the National Noh Theatre in Tokyo: this year there was nothing on there
during the time I would be in Tokyo so I had to look somewhere else. I have a few videos of performances from the kanze
Noh school so I thought I would give them a try.The trickiest thing was buying a ticket on their web site-they use some
kind of automated translation which does not quite work..
during the time I would be in Tokyo so I had to look somewhere else. I have a few videos of performances from the kanze
Noh school so I thought I would give them a try.The trickiest thing was buying a ticket on their web site-they use some
kind of automated translation which does not quite work..
Best thing is to use the Japanese option and get the help of a native speaker if necessary.
Once the purchase has gone through you will get sent a email which you will have to print off and take to a 7-11 in Japan
and they will print out your ticket for you-be careful as the ticket is very flimsy and can be easily lost..
The Theatre is in the basement of the Ginza 6 building-Ginza is the Japanese equivalent of Bond street so the setup has the feel
of having Shakespeare's Globe in the basement of Selfridges -the Ginza 6 building is quite a building and the two floors I visited were
full of high class stores and food shops.
The Theatre opens about half an hour before the performance starts and quite a queue forms-your ticket is checked on entry. There is a small stall sellingbooks and other stuff-the lady who was working speaks quite good English which came in handy when I found a ticket lying on the floor.
The staff whom got involved where very helpful and went out of their way to find the owner.
The performance was in two parts-the first part was a talk lasting about 30 minutes ,a Noh chant ,a Kyogen performance, and ending with a Noh dance.
This was the first Kyogen I have seen and as most of the humour was physical it was fairlyeasy to follow.
There was a 15 minute interval and a mad rush for the toilets-seeming only one for the entire audience so it may be best to "go before you noh"..
The second half was the Noh play lasting about an hour-I can't really comment on how good/bad the performance as I am still a Noh neophyte but I enjoyed it.
One quick point-the national had subtitles and some printed information in English, the Kanze did not.
In short-not as foreigner friendly as the National, the ticket system is a bit poorer especially in English, but I would still heartily recommend it and will visit it again.