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Kyogen and Commedia Dell’Arte: Two Theatres of Actors and Laughter

The mains objectives of this project was to relate Kyogen to Commedia Dell’Arte, two theatrical forms originated

almost in the same historical period, one from the East the other from the West. Both are centered in the work of the

actor and also extremely funny. I have been involved with Commedia dell’ Arte since 89 and knew very little about

Kyogen apart from the one-week workshop I took with Yukio Ishida in London in 99. A trip to Japan was necessary.

In Japan I was trained according to the tradition where professional apprentices are taught by their master. My sensei

was Yukio Ishida, actor of the Kyogen group Mansaku No Kai. Kyogen has lots of points in common with Commedia.

But several of its characteristics are very distinct. It is probably where these differences are that I infer one might be

able to establish a creative dialogue in between these forms. Being more a theatre practitioner than a theoretician, my

main interests are of a creative nature seeking inspiration for my own work (director, teacher or actor).

A Living Tradition X A Relived Art Form

Commedia Dell’Arte was a popular theatre form which as developed in the middle of the sixteenth century in Italy,

spread through all Europe and then almost disappeared. It is hard to be precise about its origins, combining as it did,

elements from Ancient Greek and Roman Comedy, street market techniques used to gather a crowd and Carnival.

Commedia brought to life characters like Arlecchino, Pantalone, Pulcinnella and others with their half masks.

Troupes of Commedia Dell’Arte were the first professional actors in Europe since the start of the Middle Ages. They

traveled performing everywhere, initially on the streets and later indoors to the privileged. Some historians point that

it was when it lost its popular roots that its decline began, when it stopped being improvised and playwrights started

to use it in their writing (Goldoni and Moliere). Kyogen probably came to existence earlier than Commedia. We hear

about it some time after the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (ended in 1342 a.d.). Kyogen never

ceased to exist. On the contrary Kyogen has undergone a process of definition and clarification throughout the

centuries of practice to achieve its perfection of simplicity. Perhaps this is the biggest difference. Commedia died and

had to be reinvented. A similar process to the way the Globe Theatre in London was rebuilt and plays are staged there,

bearing in mind the historical context in which they were created in Shakespeare’s time. But it is a modern
reinterpretation of an artistic phenomenon that only speaks through what has been written about it at the time of its

existence. There are no Commedia groups anymore, in the sense that a Kyogen group exists. Plays using Commedia

influence are staged here and there (e.g: A Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni was staged in 2000 by the

Royal Shakespeare Company in England). We also find professionals dedicating a life teaching and researching

Commedia and staging their projects in different parts of the world such as Antonio Fava in Italy or John Rudlin in

England. But they are developing their own work and methodology and it is hard to precise what will remain as time

goes by. Kyogen has been transmitted and taught from father to son, from generation to generation, from actor to

actor in the same way. It has kept a scent from the past.

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Teaching The Art

Kyogen offers us a wise teaching methodology. A disciple has one to one classes with his master/ experienced actor

where text or a song is taught and afterwards their correspondent movement. But I could also say after my six-month

exposure to Kyogen that it is above all through the dedication and commitment of one’s life to the art of Kyogen that

one really learns and progresses. We have a lot to take from this seriousness, concentrated focus and love to an Art. It

is by being part of the routine of the everyday life of the Kyogen group and activities that one really learns. Firstly by

helping backstage where slowly disciples are exposed to every single detail of how this art is preserved and relived.

They learn the Kyogen way of sewing, folding the costumes, dressing the other actors, using the available space in

the backstage, the group ethics and hierarchy. In the Kyogen world there is an order, a pattern, a structure for
everything. All details related to its art are clearly defined and organized. The art is transmitted through discipline and

education of the body, mind and all senses. Disciples learn above all how to sharpen their vision, listening, voice,

body and memory (essential tool for learning a traditional art form) and tune them in the Kyogen way. Therefore they

will be able to reproduce the same pattern. For example, the right hand should always be first before the left when

tying a specific lace for a specific outfit of a specific character for a specific play and that probably has been done

like that for centuries, has been improved by centuries. Commedia had obviously a pattern for the maintenance of the

everyday life of a company. There was probably a Commedia way of keeping the masks, teaching acrobatics, a

methodology through which the most experienced taught the inexperienced. But we can only imagine those and

perhaps illuminate them through what an art such as Kyogen can offer us.

Acting System

The acting in Kyogen has the same philosophy behind it, there is system that has to be learned. One has first to learn

how to speak and walk. We learn how to sing a song in the Kyogen way (there are musical structures that are repeated

throughout the Kyogen songs) or speak a text in the Kyogen way (the tone goes up to fall at the end of the sentences

and there is always only one word that is stressed by sentence). Then we stand up in order to learn the movements for

those words, but then we have to learn how to walk. Kyogen actors always move sliding their feet using what is

called suryashi. It looks easy but it requires a lot of training in order to do it naturally without suffering. Then things
get more sophisticated, there are clear conventions on how to use the stage in order to convey different meanings (a

place to introduce the character to the audience, a place to reveal the characters real intentions); dance pieces that

have similar sequence of movements, etc. We learn the grammar of this art, elements that are present in almost all

Kyogen performances. We learn to look at the work of the actor in detail: breath, energy, movement, dance, singing,

space, humor, repetition, slapstick element, facial expression (as neutral as possible), emotions, etc. All those parts of

the actors work are orchestrated according to the Kyogen system. Things start to get easier slowly. Education.

Repetition There is no room for uncertainty or improvisation in Kyogen acting. There is the soul/ sensitivity/ energy

of each actor that is unique and has to shine through the Kyogen system. It is when we spectators clearly perceive the

unique characteristic of an individual actor through precise control of the Kyogen system that one can say that he has

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really mastered his art. Choosing some of the elements of Kyogen system and playing with them with Commedia

characters will be a possible step in order to continue this research. Commedia characters such as Arlecchinno and

Brighella improvising a scene using suryashi.

Commedia was based on improvisation. Although there was what was called a cannovacio: a structure of a script (a

list of characters, props and content of scene by scene of a play), there were no written lines. Freedom was part of the

essence of Commedia. Commedia actors were masters of the spoken improvised word and dealing with the

unexpected. What would Kyogen actors be able to produce artistically through a performance where they would be

prepared to improvise? What would happen if they would take risks and deal with the unexpected? Who knows

Mansaku No Kai under the leadership of the young Mansai Nomura won’t one day venture in this territory during one
of its side projects?

In the Commedia system (if we presume that there is one) each character has a specific way of moving, a different

rhythm; each character also speaks through a different regional Italian accent in accordance with the origin of that

character. For example, Arlecchino is fast, acrobatic, aerial, his legs never stop, speaks with a Bergamo accent and is

often associated with a monkey or cat. Pantalone is more rooted to the ground, heavy, old, resembles a hawk or

chicken and speaks with Venetian accent. In Kyogen the physical differences in between characters are subtler as far

as movement and voice work is concerned. All characters (there are exceptions) move through suryashi. They speak

using similar rhythmic patterns. Although we find distinct levels of energy, strength and tone in how different

characters speak. For instance, the voice of a Daymyo is stronger and more energetic than that of Taroukaja; female

roles speak with even less strength and on a slight higher pitch. The distance in between the legs when a character is

standing can vary according to the type of character. But in general the physicality of the characters is less diverse

than in Commedia. We could also say that the acting style is more concentrated in Kyogen. There is more immobility,

what the Kyogen actor Yukio Ishida calls charge and release. The actor concentrates his energy for releasing it in

specific moments. There is always a clear building up of energy, tension and rhythm in every piece or sequence. One

can have the impression that very little is happening on stage apart from actors walking sliding their feet and talking

in a strange way, but definitely there is something about to happen, to burst in an explosion of energy that will amuse
the audience and make it laugh. This retaining of energy is not seen in Commedia. There are moments in Commedia

that the actor has to stop for the mask to be better seen, but generally Commedia is always fast paced. The characters

are always moving. There is a tendency of always exaggerating all the movements, becoming farcical, grotesque.

Perhaps due to it being an Italian art form (think Italian clichés or opera). There is also a lot of acting over the top in

Kyogen as well: the stylized laughter and crying or the way actors collapse on the floor when pushed or hit by others;

but there is a stronger balance in between those and what one might call elegance or sophistication. Kyogen was a

high art performed to an elite and Commedia, on the other hand was born on the streets to be enjoyed by the common

people. Commedia is rooted in Carnival, in the grotesque, in the European Medieval and Baroque aesthetics. A lot of

the elegance of Kyogen can been understood by the usage of what Yukio Ishida calls simplifications or abbreviations.

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Complicated actions are simplified and expressed through minimum or minimalist stylization. For example, when

conveying the action of walking from the main entrance of a property to its back, the actor simply explains it verbally

and does a small circular walk returning to the same place where he was before.

Mask Usage

The usage of the mask is very different as well. The mask is everything in Commedia, there is always a mask on stage

which doesn’t happen in Kyogen. In Commedia the mask, its lines and shape define the way a character moves, the

way he speaks, his energy, everything. There is a strong bind in between actor and mask. You learn your character

through the mask. In Kyogen if a mask has to be used, one learns the text and movement of a piece and then at the

very end of the process, when he is on the verge of performing, he might rehearse with the mask｡ There is an
enormous respect for it, but it is not the central element in Kyogen. Commedia mask technique is done always to the

audience. The actor has to constantly clock to the audience, i.e: they are always commenting on what is going on

stage, almost talking with the spectators. In Kyogen there isn’t such an explicit relationship with the audience.

Characters And Plots

There are lots of similarities in between the characters and plots. Commedia is a slice of life and society in Italy in the

sixteenth century. Different social classes and its relationships are expressed in it. The relationship in between

Arlecchino and Pantallone is that between master and servant and that of two different social classes. Kyogen is also

a slice of old Japan, its language, customs, beliefs, social structure. We also have a pair of servants like Arlecchino

and Brighella: Taroukaja and Jiroukaja. They also have a master. The Dottore in Commedia can easily be associated

with the different priests found in Kyogen scripts. There are similarities in how the female characters are portrayed.

Eventually they might have some power over male characters. But they are confined to the stereotypes women

occupied before feminism (they were played by real women in Commedia). Commedia plots/ cannovacios were

longer and complete stories with a beginning, a development and a conclusion. Kyogen pieces are often short, almost

sketches. They could perhaps be compared to what was called a Lazzi in Commedia. These were physical sequences

or pieces of text/ jokes that were successful and therefore should be written down in order to be reutilized in any

cannovacio. These lazzis have been lost. But we could say that the Kyogen repertoire is a huge collection of lazzis.
Truly we find there more than that: a huge collection of sophisticated sequences that not only produce laughter but

deeply bring the essence of the human being with all its universality and contradictions to the stage. I was surprised

by the variety of the Kyogen repertoire. Some pieces are pure slapstick, others very existential, others surreal, others

have strong political criticism, etc… Since there is a lot of proximity in between the characters of these two art forms;

Kyogen plots/ structures could be creative material for devising work with actors trained in Commedia. In the same

way Commedia cannovacios can be rich material for Kyogen actors. Shakespeare, for instance, used Commedia as a

strong inspiration for writing some of his comedies. The usage of his Comedy of Errors as the basis for Mansaku No

Kai’s recent production of Machigai No Kyogen and the success it reached in Japan and London proves the point of

a strong possibility of exchanging in between these two worlds.

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Horizons

During these six months in Japan I felt honored to be able to witness the richness, modernity, complexity and depth of

such a systematic and passionate world: Kyogen. Kyogen opened my eyes, ears, body, imagination and thoughts in an

unexpected way. It is easy to understand why it is increasingly growing in popularity in Japan and abroad. Nomura

Mansai seems to be determined to expand the territory where Kyogen actors can perform with projects like Machigai

No Kyogen or Shinjuku Space Zero Kyogen where Kyogen pieces are performed with light, sound effects and a set. I

believe this can be a very rich process that can benefit the theatre world as whole as long as tradition is kept alive

having eyes open to the future. I was able in this short exposure to the world of Kyogen to compare it to Commedia

dell’ Arte. I have been able to devise exercises, themes for improvisations and learn a new approach to comprehend
the work of the actor that will for sure inspire my work with Commedia. This experience also made me think about

how Kyogen, its technique and plots can easily establish a creative dialogue with what can be called the theatre

tradition of the West: the theatre of words/ playwriting. Some authors came to my mind in these six months: Samuel

Beckett, Arrabal, Ionesco, the early Brecht, Carl Valentin, Michel de Ghelderode or even having new British writers

creating new pieces for Kyogen. There sure is a lot of scope to investigate and a lot to discover. I hope somehow to be

able to participate in this rich and challenging process.

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