The spirit of noh-kyōgen
A kyōgen company — the classical comic theatre of Japan — carrying six centuries of technique into modern and Western texts.
The Noho Theatre Group was founded in 1981 by kyōgen actor Shigeyama Akira and American director Jonah Salz to interpret Shakespeare, Yeats, Beckett and original plays, as well as bilingual kyōgen.
They perform at studio theatres and noh stages throughout Japan, the Edinburgh Fringe and Avignon Festivals, and New York’s La MaMa and Asia Society.
At the heart of the work are Shigeyama Akira and Shigeyama Sennojo of the Shigeyama kyōgen family, masked actor Matsui Akira, and reader Kagari — carrying movement, voice, and the aesthetics of ma (negative space) into stories by Beckett, Yeats, Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights.
Masters of movement, voice & ma.
A longer history, director’s notes and press materials will be added here. See the current season on Performances, browse the Archive, or watch videos in the Media library.