A podcast series exploring The Cycle Plays

Hosted by Dramaturg Mei Ann Teo and engineered by Jonathan Segel, recorded in March 2007.

The Composer's Diary is an insightful look at the journey we have taken over the last three years. This blog is hosted by Suki O'Kane and Allen Whitman, the lead composers for The Cycle Plays.

Special thanks to House of Zoka for hosting The Composer's Diary.

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The chu-no-mai is one of the instrumentally-accompanied traditional dances used in many Japanese Noh plays. It is one of the cornerstones of our training that we use to develop our movement form and kata (specific gestures) that are used again and again, like a ballet vocabulary, as well as physical concepts such as jo-ha-kyu (slow-development-climax), tameru (restraint), and ma (breath/ time/ space).

As an experimental company, we also use the chu-no-mai dance (among others) as part of our warm-up practice to exercise own imaginations and creativity. Typically, we dance it once in plain form, providing the musical accompaniment of the noh flute via a sung vocalizing of the flute sounds (shoga). Then we dance it again with our musicians participating, and they bring to the moment their own interpretations using a wide variety of sources such as amplified and acoustic guitar, sampled sounds, bells, gongs, accordion, toys. If possible, we take the exercise out of the rehearsal room to an environment that provides a whole new set of challenges and stimulation. These dances are traditionally used within plays where they are danced by specific characters and imbued with emotional interpretation. They are also often performed as stand-alone dance pieces (shimai/maibayashi).

This video shows us rehearsing in various challenging settings at our favorite retreat setting – Circle W Ranch near Yosemite, as well as performing it at the 2003 Burning Man Decompression Party.

- Libby Zilber

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I like to start with materials. The fabric I choose is, for me, part inspiration and challenge. I choose materials that have some relationship to the tone of the production and at the same time seek to find what keeps me creatively challenged. Challenge and inspiration are what fuel my process. If I don't have a problem to solve with the materials, then my inspiration tends to wane and consequently my design weakens. The design problem contains many considerations. For example, I ask myself how the fabric needs to move with the actor or how the material needs to conform to a pattern that both fits and moves with the contours of a performer while, at the same time, creates an overall image that will inform the audience about the nature of the character.

The design for The Cycle Plays began with one strong image, a chambered nautilus. This shape instills the notion of transition as well as represents the idea of a barrier between two worlds, inside and outside. The nautilus is specifically related to Dark/Silent, but as images for the other scripts revealed themselves, the central idea a barrier, as in the shell of animals we find in the sea or the armor-like hard backs of insects, like beetles, became more relevant to the production as a whole. I chose a nylon mesh to help me relate this notion of skin or barrier. The mesh is used in screens for windows and doors in our homes, which invokes the feeling of a barrier, but at the same time allows for movement between an inside world and outside one. The challenge which propels me through this design process is to make a material that is designed for an industrial purpose fit the needs of our artistic vision.

- Erin Blendu

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The very existence of these photo images speaks to our process on The Cycle Plays. Each of our rehearsal retreats over the last few years has been a moment of intense creativity and accomplishment. They have also been family reunions. Over and over this extended and large experiment in flocking meditation speaks to the quality of the fellow travelers on the path. We enjoy each other. Those in the room, on the journey, bring out the best in each of us.

Our eagerness to hold onto moments along the way has been a persistent force since the beginning. The realization of our incredible great fortune at being able to be together and our awareness of its slipping existence is palpable. Time is passing.

Images from our shared moments were taken by Allen Whitman, Larnie Fox and Libby Zilber with accompanying music by the YugenOrchestra created throughout the developmental of The Cycle Plays period.

The Photo Gallery

The Slideshow

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Artistic Statement from Erik Ehn

Erik Ehn's (Director/Playwright) Artistic Statement from February of 2006.

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I'm a visual artist with a strong interest in sound, structure and I love bamboo as a material. I was honored when Allen Whitman and Suki O'Kane asked me to join The Cycle Plays project as a "musician". I had been doing some performance with hand-made, hand-cranked instruments ~ amplified mechanical loops.

My first exposure to The Cycle Plays, and noh in general, was at a residency that the Theatre of Yugen did at U.T., Austin in the Fall of 2006. I brought a few of my "cranks" with me, and they worked well for the sound of one of the plays. But, watching the performances and seeing the dedication of the actors made me want to find out more about noh. I spent some time researching noh, and especially noh theaters, online. Before long I was working on sketches for experimental bamboo versions of noh theaters including the traditional bridge, the three pine trees, the enveloping roof. These sketches I showed to Erik Ehn, the director, and some of the actors, and they became the basis for the design we're working towards.

My wife, Bodil Fox, (textile artist) is my usual collaborator for large bamboo installations, so we brought her into the project. She became interested in the traditional backdrop for the noh theater ~ which features an image of a large pine tree. She began making sketches for a huge quilt-like fabric backdrop, which will be a prominent element of the final set design. We're planning on building a first version of the sets in a TBD Bay Area location to see what our ideas look like full-size.

- Larnie Fox

Images from Construction at Djarassi reteat.

Sketch of the Backdrop by Bodil Fox.

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Everyone is welcome to browse and contribute to Theatre of Yugen's

cyclepedia

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Interview on comcast TV's "Inside City Limits"

Interview

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Theatre of Yugen provides a Classroom Study Guide for educators to use prior to a residency by the Kyogen company.

Classroom Study Guide

Created by Jubilith Moore

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