Noh Reimagined brought even more theatre magic to London with their double bill of Matzukaze and The Song of Rona, two fascinating productions that brought two different, yet complimentary tales to viewers.
Matzukaze
This Noh play, a masterpiece by Zeami Motokiyo from the mid-1300s, tells the story of two sisters, Matsukaze and Murasame, salt makers who once encountered the travelling monk Yukihira. Though long departed from the living world, the sisters linger as ghosts bound by memory and longing. When one hears mention of the monk they cherished deeply, she clutches the robe he once wore. Her grief is so intense, so overwhelming, that she mistakes a pine tree ahead – and the wind moving through and around it – for his presence. Perhaps it is his spirit she senses, just as her own remains suspended in that moment.
The scenes that unfold are striking in their beauty. Emotions from the performers sit raw and unfiltered, like the salt once laid out to dry beneath the sun, while the endless wind through the pine trees mirrors their longing: the what if, the might it be, the question of whether he will ever return.
The visuals carry equal weight: costumes rich with metaphor, from the salt cart being drawn across the stage to the delicate shades of the woman’s robe, contrasted with the monk’s ornate purple garment. A colourful hand fan links the characters symbolically, much as spirituality binds, entwines, and guides many through unseen forces.
The Song of Rona Island
By contrast, The Song of Rona challenges expectations of traditional Noh. Adapted from the essay On Rona by acclaimed poet Kathleen Jaime, the story is set on Rona Island: among the most remote places in the British Isles. This work, conceived and directed by Akiko Yanagisawa, in collaboration with all the artists on stage and the talented creative team, introduces a striking fusion of Scottish landscape and Noh tradition.
Kanji Shimizu (Noh shite actor) performs alongside fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and Brighde Chaimbeul on the Scottish smallpipes, creating a vivid soundscape that sets the imagination alight. Takao Nishimura and Haruhiko Hasegawa of the Kanze School provide the Jiutai chorus, while Satoshi Tsukitaku (Noh flute), Naoya Toriyama (small hand drum), and Mitsuhiro Kakihara (large hand drum) offer the traditional Noh musical foundation.
The story follows a figure visiting Rona with his colleagues. Alone, he encounters nothing but the stark beauty of the landscape and the sound of wind threading through trees, and visits a chapel where he encounters the figure of St. Ronan in a dream. Whether he meets the spirits of past visitors, hears only the voice of nature and the elements, or senses something beyond either, remains deliberately ambiguous. Symbolism permeates the piece: the branch he carries becomes a link to life, nature, and memory: a fragment of something older, wiser, and enduring.
The music becomes the heartbeat of the play, giving shape to its unspoken language. Traditional Scottish melodies blend seamlessly with Noh’s musical structure, creating a soundscape that holds the narrative together and infuses the performance with warmth and harmony.
While music is central to many Noh plays, The Song of Rona offers something particularly special: an enveloping auditory world that both grounds and transports, providing a sense of comfort and spiritual resonance.
Hopefully in future we can see more equally riveting and moving new Noh theatre, constantly challenging the art form and how we see our modern world through it, alongside these old classics. With Noh Reimagined, surely we will.
Find out more about Noh Reimagined here.