Kyogen

After a great lunch, we were treated to an afternoon of traditional Japanese theater. First, an American, Don Kenny, did a presentation on kyogen, which is a form of comedy performed to musical accompaniment. Most of the plays are for 2 characters. The movements and dialogue in kyogen are typically very exaggerated and the emphasis is on the dialogue and action rather than music and dance.




The play that Mr. Kenny and his fellow actor presented was called "The Dwarf Tree Thief". I found it very entertaining.







After the play, Mr. Kenny showed us the masks that are used in kyogen. Masks are only used for nonhuman or for very ugly characters.