Kyógen - six centuries of cultivation

The Japanese genre of the kyógen farce is notably different from the comic improvised performances intended to amuse the spectator and awaken his attention before the ensuing performance of the serious Nó theatre, as noted in the late 14th century by Zeami Motokiyo. They lost their original rawness and, thanks to six centuries of existence alongside the refined genre of Nó, were able to absorb the same sense of precision and professionalism. A precise date for when and specific reasons for why improvisation was abandoned in the kyógen theatre are still lacking, yet nonetheless by 1642, the twelfth iemoto (head) of the Ókura school, Tora Akira, wrote in his tract Warambegusa (The Herb of Laughter) of the necessity for comedy not to lag behind the serious genres in any single respect. As a result, the kyógen adapted from the Nó theatre the basic principles of acting techniques, and one of Zeami's basic requirements: "to surprise the eye, please the ear, and stir the soul" supplemented only with a different content - a greatly forgiving humour.

During the following 300 years, during which Japan under the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns was closed off from foreign influences and firmly divided into social hierarchies, the great theatrical families found it possible to create advantageous conditions for the detailed treatment of written scripts and the cultivation of acting techniques, which allowed not only the kyógen farce but all of the other dramatic genres then under development to reach true perfection. Attesting to the degree of detail to which the methods of acting in Japanese theatre were set down is, for instance, the fact that even Zeami in the late 14th century greatly discussed such details as, for instance, the correct timing of the appearance of the first actor on stage, so as to gain the greatest attention from the public. And even today, kyógen actors discuss in their dressing-rooms before the performance how "quick" the surface of the particular stage is - and how best to adapt to it. (Actors in this genre wear only thin half-socks known as tabi - in practice, acting almost barefoot, and using a sliding step called suriashi. The stage is of polished cypress wood, meaning that each one is slightly different and allowing for a differently paced tempo of performance.)

The Czech ensemble Malé divadlo kjógenu, o.s., founded in 2001, has for over six years worked in close cooperation with the Japanese acting family of Shigeyama to ensure the creative transmission of the traditional Japanese kyógen farce to Czech audiences. The creation of the "Little Kyógen Theatre" ensued from the idea of the group's teacher and patron, Master Shigeyama Shime, a leading representative of the traditional school of Ókura from Kyoto. The genre kyógen was listed by UNESCO in 2001 as one of the world cultural treasures as a "masterful form of oral and non-material spiritual human culture." It is a unique and long-standing project of mutual cultural exchange between Czech acting students and Japanese theatre professionals, supported by regularly held workshops in which a new play in Czech translation is always practiced in the presence of a Japanese master. The Malé divadlo kyógenu is a unique theatrical association active beyond the boundaries of Japan yet systematically devoted to the cultivation of this traditional artistic genre.

Japanese kyógen farces:

• Kaki yamabushi (Yamabushi the Tomela thief; length 12min.)
• Kuchimane (Parroting; length 20min.)
• Busu (Tasty Poison; length 32min.)
• Honekawa (The Monk, the Skeleton, and Its Exterior; length 15min.)

The plays Yamabushi the Tomela Thief (Czech premiere in 2000; translation Ondřej Hýbl, adaptation by Hubert Krejčí and members of the MDK) and Parroting (Czech premiere in 2004; translation Ondřej Hýbl and Pavel Drábek) were rehearsed with a professional actor from the Ókura school, Master Shigeyama Shime during workshops held in Prague in 2000 and 2004, the kyógen Busu (premiere 2007; translation Ondřej Hýbl, adaptation by members of the MDK) was rehearsed at the workshop in 2007 with two professional actors of the Ókura school, Master Shigeyama Shime and Shigeyama Ippei.

These farces are performed in Czech. The kyógen The Monk, the Skeleton and Its Exterior (premiere 1982; translation Hubert Krejčí) was rehearsed under the direction of dramatist and director Hubert Krejčí, consultation and choreography by Shigeyama Shime.

Before the performance, there is usually a short talk given on the genre of the kyógen farce, the length of which can be adapted (5-30 minutes).