About the event

　①　Wednesday, August 6, 2025　6:30 pm (Doors open at 5:30 pm)　
　　　OPPENHEIMER　

◆Program
Maibayashi　Atsumori [15 min.]
Kyogen　 　Kuchimane (Celui qui imite trop bien [The Mimic]) [20 min.]
(Break)
Noh in English　Oppenheimer [80 min.]
* Maibayashi will be performed in Japanese, Kyogen in Japanese and French.
◆Japanese subtitles available : Some seats may have limited subtitle visibility.
◆Ticket : All seats are unreserved
/3,000yen
/5,000yen (includes the Oppenheimer script and the booklet “エルビスの幽玄”)
◆Purchase : Kita Noh Theatre site *On sale from June 2

　②　Thursday, August 7, 2025　6:30 pm (Doors open at 5:30 pm)　
　　　BLUE MOON OVER MEMPHIS　

◆Program
Maibayashi　Iwafune [12 min.]
Kyogen　 　Neongyoku (Quand on chante allongé [Horizontal Singing]) [20 min.]
(Break)
Noh in English　Blue Moon Over Memphis [70 min.]
* Maibayashi will be performed in Japanese, Kyogen in Japanese and French.
◆Japanese subtitles available : Some seats may have limited subtitle visibility.
◆Ticket : All seats are unreserved
/3,000yen
/5,000yen (includes the booklet “エルビスの幽玄” and the Oppenheimer script)
◆Purchase : Kita Noh Theatre site *On sale from June 2

　③　Friday, August 8, 2025　6:30 pm (Doors open at 5:30 pm)　
　　　BLUE MOON OVER MEMPHIS　

◆Program
Maibayashi　Iwafune [12 min.]
Kyogen　 　Neongyoku (Quand on chante allongé [Horizontal Singing]) [20 min.]
(Break)
Noh in English　Blue Moon Over Memphis [70 min.]
* Maibayashi will be performed in Japanese, Kyogen in Japanese and French.
◆Ticket : All seats are unreserved
/3,000yen
/5,000yen (includes the booklet “エルビスの幽玄” and the Oppenheimer script)
◆Purchase : Kita Noh Theatre site *On sale from June 2

　④　Saturday, August 9, 2025　2:00 pm (Doors open at 1:00 pm)　
　　　OPPENHEIMER　

◆Program
Maibayashi　Atsumori [15 min.]
Kyogen　 　Kuchimane (Celui qui imite trop bien [The Mimic]) [20 min.]
(Break)
Noh in English　Oppenheimer [80 min.]
* Maibayashi will be performed in Japanese, Kyogen in Japanese and French.
◆Ticket : All seats are unreserved
/3,000yen
/5,000yen (includes the Oppenheimer script and the booklet “エルビスの幽玄”)
◆Purchase : Kita Noh Theatre site *On sale from June 2

Flyer
Poster(Oppenheimer)
Poster(Blue Moon Over Memphis)

Lecture By "Oppenheimer" Playwright Allan Marett

“The Oppenheimer Noh: a story for the nuclear age viewed through an ancient lens.”

Allan Marett, the writer of “Oppenheimer”, will talk about why he chose Oppenheimer as the lead character, the shite, his interest in Noh drama, and more. He will also talk with Taichi KOYAMA, a professor at Rikkyo University.
・Date：Tuesday, August 5, 2025　　6:00pm
・Venue: Room B101, Building 14 (Waseda Campus)

• 18:00　Lecture by Allan Marett
• 18:40　Talk with Professor Taichi Koyama
• 19:10　Q&A (Japanese is available)
• 19:30　End

Oppenheimer

Photo: Sota Kitazawa

A Noh about Oppenheimer who traces the spiritual journey

Exploring themes of sin and repentance, the English-language Noh play Oppenheimer fuses a powerful libretto by Allan Marett, professor emeritus of the University of Sydney, with music by composer Richard Emmert. Marking the passage of 80 years since the end of the Pacific War, this deeply philosophical play, steeped in Zen, centers on Robert Oppenheimer himself—the man who created the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

*Allan Marett is a musicologist working in the areas of Australian Aboriginal Music, Sino-Japanese music history and Noh. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney. He has published widely on the history and analysis of the tōgaku tradition of Japanese Court Music (gagaku) and on Australian Aboriginal ceremonial song. He has held a lifelong interest in Japanese Noh drama and has written two Noh plays in English, Eliza and Oppenheimer. He teaches at the Adelaide Zen Centre.

＊Direction＊
Matsui Akira, Richard Emmert, John Oglevee

Story

The Buddhist Pilgrim who has come from Shikoku to an old temple in Hiroshima meets the ghost of Robert Oppenheimer. He confesses that the atomic bomb, which he himself made, burned so many people and that he is condemned to wander this world as a tormented ghost. After saying that he is unable to escape the wheel of karma and is suffering, the ghost vanishes from sight.
The ghost of Oppenheimer who was summoned again by the Pilgrim’s chanting of the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra realizes the law of cause and effect. He chooses to accept his fate and …….

Performer

Blue Moon Over Memphis

Photo: Sota Kitazawa

A Noh about Elvis Presley

Award-winning playwright Deborah Brevoort’s Blue Moon Over Memphis is a stirring meditation on loneliness and the dangers of both celebrity and fan culture that centers on one the world’s most iconic casualties of fame: Elvis Presley. The poetry of Brevoort’s libretto blends with Richard Emmert’s score to offer audiences a new perspective on Elvis Presley and Noh drama itself.

＊Deborah Brevoort is an award-winning author of plays, musicals and opera librettos. In 2023, she was awarded the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize from Opera America. She is best known for her play The Women of Lockerbie, which is produced internationally, and for numerous comedies and dramas produced at theatres across the U.S.

＊Direction＊
Matsui Akira, Richard Emmert, John Oglevee

Story

Judy, an Elvis Presley fan, makes a pilgrimage to Graceland, a sacred site to fans of Mr. Presley in Memphis, Tennessee, on the anniversary of Elvis’s death. During the candlelight vigil, a mysterious man lets her into the Meditation Garden where Elvis is buried. Under the light of the blue moon, she meets …….

Performer

Book, Link

Related booklet

• 

  エルヴィスの幽玄 － 能が英語になったとき（The Yūgen of Elvis—Performing Noh in English）

  A publication accompanying the English noh performance.
  Blue Moon Over Memphis: Deborah Brevoort’s complete English text with Japanese translation along with explanations of the highlights of the music, costumes and masks as well as accompanying photos.
  A volume revealing English noh and the background to the creation of Blue Moon Over Memphis.

  Editorial Supervision: Yanai Initiative
  Language: Japanese
  Specifications: 223mm x 174mm, soft cover, 120 pages (in color)
  Price: 2,200 yen (Tax included)
  Contents:
  ・What is English Noh—Beyond Culture and Language (Dialogue between Richard Emmert and Narita Minako)
  ・Articles by the author and performers of Blue Moon Over Memphis.
  ・Explanations of the music, costumes and masks of Blue Moon Over Memphis.
  ・Round-table Discussion: Noh in the World—Noh and Its Possibilities as a Global Theatre
  ・Essays: What is Noh? (Takemoto Mikio) / Thoughts on English Noh (Kodama Ryuichi)

  Click HEREfor purchases in Japan. At present, this book can only be shipped to addresses within Japan.

LINK

• A short essay about the Oppenheimer performances by Allan Marett on the website of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
• Noh in English “Blue Moon Over Memphis” (July 19, July 21)
• The Yanai Initiative

Contact
The Yanai Initiative office：[email protected]