Hōshō School Noh Theatre – Tsuchigumo (The Ground Spider)

About

Kantan

Set in ancient China, Kantan tells the story of the middle-aged traveler Lu Sheng, who is searching for the meaning of life. On his journey he stops at an inn in the town of Kantan, where the innkeeper offers him a pillow while millet porridge is being prepared. The pillow, however, is magical; it can reveal the future in a dream. As soon as Lu Sheng falls asleep, he is summoned to the imperial court and raised to the throne. He experiences fifty years of glory, power, and prosperity, until, in the midst of celebration, everything suddenly vanishes. He awakens to find that the millet is only just cooked. Lu Sheng realizes that even a lifetime of splendor passes like a dream and comes to understand the transience of all things. Filled with gratitude and insight, he continues his journey.

This play is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Noh theatre. It stands out for its carefully constructed narrative, seamless transitions between scenes, compelling dance, expressive chant and music, as well as surprising stage effects. All of these elements are realized at an exceptionally high artistic level. The subject itself, based on an old Chinese tale, is equally powerful. Lu Sheng, a man in midlife, encounters on his journey of self-discovery a dream that reveals to him a deeper truth about the transience of human life. After watching the play, the audience is often left with a distinctive sense of clarity and inner release.

Izutsu

Zeami Motokiyo’s Noh play Izutsu (The Well Cradle) transports the audience to an autumn landscape in which a travelling monk stops at Ariwaradera Temple in Yamato Province. The temple is traditionally associated with the celebrated Heian-period poet and courtier Ariwara no Narihira (825–880). As the monk prays for the repose of the souls of Narihira and his wife, a village woman appears, bringing flowers and water as offerings to the temple. When questioned by the monk, she recounts the love story of Narihira and the daughter of Ki no Aritsune. The two had known each other since childhood, playing by the well and measuring their height against it. As adults, they expressed their love through the exchange of poems and eventually got married. In the end, the woman reveals that she herself is the daughter of Ki no Aritsune of whom she has been speaking and disappears into the shadow of an old grave mound.

A local villager then tells the monk more about Narihira and his wife and asks him to perform a memorial service for the soul of the “woman by the well.” That night, her spirit appears to him in a dream. Dressed in Narihira’s court cap and robes, she expresses through dance both her love and her longing for him. Clad in his garments, she gazes into the reflection on the surface of the well, searching for his image. At dawn, the apparition fades, and the monk awakens.

Izutsu is one of the supreme works of the “dream play” category of Noh, and Zeami himself regarded it as one of his finest creations. Based on The Tales of Ise, this play unites memory, love, and impermanence in an atmosphere of delicate melancholy. One of its most striking stage images is the well surrounded by autumn susuki grass, which deepens the sense of stillness and solitude.

Kyōgen Interlude – Kuchimane (The Mimic)

The master of the house receives a cask of excellent sake as a gift and decides that it would be a pity to drink it alone. He therefore orders his servant Tarōkaja to bring him an entertaining companion. Eager to find someone “special,” the servant instead brings a man who is notorious in the region for his aggressive behaviour, especially when drunk. Since the guest has already made the journey, however, it would be impossible to send him away, and the master has no choice but to entertain him. Fearing that the servant may once again do something inappropriate, the master instructs Tarōkaja: “Do exactly as I tell you.” But even this fails to save the situation. The overly eager, if not particularly bright, servant once again misunderstands his master’s words. How, exactly, is already hinted at in the title of the play.

— Intermission —

Tsuchigumo (The Ground Spider)

Classical Noh, performed in Japanese with Czech surtitles; the narrator’s part (Igor Dostálek) in Czech.

The ailing Minamoto no Raikō is visited at night by an unknown monk, who soon reveals himself to be the apparition of a monstrous spider. Attempting to bind Raikō in its webs, the creature attacks, but Raikō defends himself with his sword and wounds it. The apparition disappears. Raikō immediately dispatches his loyal retainer Hitorimushamaru and a group of warriors to track down and destroy the monster. Following the trail of its blood, they make their way to Mount Katsuragi, to an ancient burial mound where the earth spider dwells. Hitorimushamaru and his companions break into the mound, unleashing an epic battle between brave warriors and the demon. Despite its fierce resistance and the torrents of webbing it hurls at them, the spider spirit is ultimately defeated.

The play is based on legends of Minamoto no Raikō, a celebrated hero of the Heian period, best known as a slayer of demons. In such tales, however, the decisive action is often carried out not by Raikō himself, but by his loyal retainers. The climactic image of the play is the moment when the principal shite role casts white spider threads across the stage at the human warriors. This striking and visually powerful effect is among the most famous — and most action-filled — moments in the entire Noh repertoire of more than 300 plays. Precisely because of its dynamism, Tsuchigumo is especially well received by international audiences who do not understand Japanese.

Cast

• Takeda Takashi
• Sawada Kōji
• Kanamori Yoshimitsu
• Watanabe Takashi
• Kidani Tetsuya
• Ueno Yoshihiro
• Tsuruta Kōki
• Obinata Hiroshi
• Mikuriya Seigo
• Sadamitsu Tomonori
• Narita Sō
• Okura Eitaro
• Komparu Soemon
• Takeda Isa
• Dostálek Igor
• Hýbl Ondřej
• Actors of the Kyōgen Theatre