Noh and kyogen are said to be twin performing arts. While noh plays are mainly tragedies, Kyogen plays are comedic in style. Performances of the two traditionally alternate on the same noh stage.
The most notable character in kyogen is "Taro kaja," which is not a proper name but a general term for the "main servant." He is the one who carries out various missions on the orders of his master, and there are many kyogen plays that comically depict scenes of Taro kaja bumbling while carrying out his missions.
For instance, Taro kaja might stealthily savor sweets or sake when he is ordered by his master to take charge of a house during his absence; he might mistakenly tear a love letter which he is entrusted to deliver to a person the master loves; and he might end up mistakenly buying an umbrella instead of a fan, when he goes out on an errand for his master.
On the other hand, there is also the clever Taro kaja who gives advice to a master who has a poor memory by putting a word or two into the master's ears; or he tries to harshly settle old scores with a master who exploits him.
"Although he is a servant, it is Taro kaja who, as in the case of inferiors getting the best of their superiors, possesses an energy so powerful as to take the place of his master, should time and circumstances permit," said Nomura Man, a noh actor and living national treasure who was awarded the top cultural honor, the Order of Culture, last year.
There is a highly recommended public performance that specially features Taro kaja. "Tachiai Kyogenkai: Eight-round competition of Taro kaja," in which 27 kyogen actors -- those of middle-standing and younger ones -- from eight groups perform, will be held at the National Noh Theatre in Sendagaya, Tokyo, starting from 1 p.m. on Feb. 15.
During the Muromachi period (1336-1573) when Zeami, who brought noh to a state of perfection, was still alive, the tachiai staging style involved acting troupes vying for superiority in their performances. The competitions were said to be hotly contested, with the outcome deciding whether they were able to get patronage from daimyo among others.
"Tachiai Kyogenkai," named after such historic events, has been held once a year since 2015, when kyogen actors proposed creating an opportunity for middle-standing and younger actors to pursue their studies on the same stage by going beyond the barriers of kyogen styles and schools.
During the events, kyogen actors of different groups perform the same program in sequence, or several actors perform a kyogen dance simultaneously. This project has been well-received by the public as they are able to compare the differences in the manner of performance and the ways of dancing that have been handed down within each group.
In the world of kyogen today, there are two major schools: the Okura school and the Izumi school. From this year on, Nomura Matasaburo of the Izumi school, whose group is based in Nagoya, and Okura Yataro of the Okura school, whose group is based in Tokyo, joined hands to assume the management of the tachiai public performance.
Yataro, who was born in the house of the head of the Okura school, explained the basic policy of the project: "We are resolved not to perform jointly with other schools. What we mean to do is that, each of us, while carrying the artistic skills preserved at each school and group on our back, would perform on the stage as we usually do."
Normally, it is mostly only one group that performs during a single noh-kyogen public performance. And such an opportunity when kyogen actors of different groups meet together "would only be at weddings and funerals," Matasaburo said.
Matasaburo added, "Scenes in the dressing room and the job-well-done party are interesting."
In the dressing room, the differences among groups in the way they put on costumes and exchange ideas and opinions candidly at the party have provided them with a good lesson, he explained.
The "eight-round competition of Taro kaja," which Matasaburo is said to have proposed, is a project for people to take a look at various aspects of a leading character of kyogen plays.
"By watching the stage performances of other schools, one will come to think about what are the merits of one's own school," said Yataro. "We also hope that our audience understands that kyogen is a play in which nobody dies, thus a performing art that prays for peace."
-- Morishige covers traditional performing arts.
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