by San'yutei Ryuraku and San'yutei Koseinen - 'Menikaru' (Many Cultures)
at New Adelphi Studio on 19th June 2024, 2-5pm
Hosted by R Talbot (University of Salford) and introduced by Till Weingaertner (University College Cork) as part of a Japanese Performance Practices Day (which included a workshop by Yudai Kamisato as part of the Japan-Britain Contemporary Theatre Exchange with Lancaster University and Beri Juraic)
We were proud to present a dynamic Rakugo duo, thanks to funding support from The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Daiwa-Anglo Foundation and Ohashi Eye Centre, Tokyo.
San'yutei Ryuraku (Astuyoshi Yanai) and San'yutei Koseinen (Johan Bjoerk)
also featuring
Atsuko Yanai (Calligraphy)
Gorogahaku (Manga)
Production for NAS: Mell Bird and Mark Fox.
The Art of Japanese Storytelling was given a multilingual twist as Manga met Rakugo in this event. The supporting artists collectively combine visual images, using Manga as a 'way in' and Shodō (calligraphy) as a preamble. The calligraphy reminds us of the principles of depth in simplicity, and, as the word 'hana' (flower) is draw three times, speaks of the connection between though, word and embodied action. The mange provides a populer, accessible outline of the story to come. Sketches of characters in top-knots and kimono emphasise human character and emotion over the exotic other.
Celebrated for their performances around the globe in eight different languages, the Rakugo performers brought the traditional Japanese art of Rakugo to life in a variety of languages including Japanese, French, English, and Portuguese.
The performances made an impression for their cultural impact, but also for the specific techniques of this format of comedy performance, which really have to be witnessed live to be appreciated.
One surprising element of the performance is the clapping. Polite clapping seems to be induced in the audience - and the audience contained a mixture of people who are familiar with live Japanese performance and some who are not. The performers enter, sit, offer a preamble, perform, stop, bow, explain, and repeat or bow, stand, step down from the stage, bow, depart to the curtain, bow and the audience tracks all of this with clapping interjections. This is not a kind of reverence, I'd argue, but a sign of the dialogue going on between audいence members and performers. Sanyutei Ryuraku, explained the importance of giving space for the inner images, monologue, and imagination in individual audience members to develop during the performance. The clapping then is a kind of transmission - as if to say, 'yes we're here and ready', or 'thank you' - while also attending to a private imaginarium. This could be about the story or the way it's told, or personal associations. Ryuraku emphasises the value of individual and different reactions, but that it is important, in terms of collective respect for one anothers ideas, to exercise the personal imagination in the company of other people doing the same.
This may sound like a very post-war and pacifist ethos, but this Rakugo is also presented alongside other cultural elements: manga and calligraphy, emphasising the whole event as an introduction to the symbolic objects at the disposal of the performer, the kind of topics of Rakugo, and the comic conventions. A strong traditional framework is maintained through elements from the Edo period - kimono, zabuton (cushion), moosen (a red runner cloth), fan (fuusen) and towel (tenugui). These are signs of the historical performance but the live-ness/now-ness of comedy and of live performance more generally are much more present that I had expected. This is not a museum performance of a fixed and venerated form.
When Sanryutei Ryuraku gags and his cheeks seem to fill with vomit the physical gesture is universal, the form it takes is very clear and deftly managed, but it fits within the flow of performance between performer and audience that is built up from the first moment. The 'curtain' monologue, sets a tone and acknowledges the conditions of the venue and the performer, and the audience members. The 'story' is set up, worked up towards, and can be interrupted at any point. The story may be well known, but in the multi-cultural context, there are single foreign words that may summarise a whole paragraph. Or the performance might be fully in translation with asides and explanations of the choice of words by Sanryutei Koseinen (the name Koseinen means, 'nice guy').
Potential outcomes, and some questions and ideas to develop:
1. How the context and mood of comic performance promotes a wider understanding of Japanese culture more widely. How the purpose and conventions of Rakugo performance are invigorated by the contemporary media and context.
2. The aim of promoting understanding between audience members, and across cultural boundaries, is explicitly referenced by Sanyutei Ryuraku in conversation. In what ways do laughter and performance reveal universal of humanity without being didactic, even in the context of a 'cultural exchange'?
3. Sanyutei Koseinen (Johan Bjoerk) is a Swedish performer who trained through the Japanese master-disciple process to become the country's only non-native 'Shoshin' professional Rakugo performer. His adaptation of an historical comedy performance format includes original translation and interpretation of comic elements. How has he made these choices and how are they received by the audience?
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