Benkei in the Boat (Funa Benkei / 船弁慶)

 Popular tale of a tragic hero, his sidekick warrior monk, and devoted lover

Program: Know Noh #48
Date: February 11, 2016
Venue: National Noh Theatre (Tokyo, Japan)

Story

Benkei is the monk in white scarf
shown at the top of this flyer

Yoshitsune Minamoto was an outstanding warrior, whose strategic war skills contributed to Minamoto clan’s epic victory over the Taira clan in the historic Sea Battle of Dan-no-Ura, which took place in the Shimonoseki Strait in southern Japan (1185 A.D.).  After the win, Yoshitsune’s big brother Yoritomo Minamoto established a new military government in Kamakura and became its first shogun.  However, due to Yoshitsune’s dogmatic behavior, Yoritomo now saw his little brother as a threat, issuing an order to have him captured and killed.  Yoshitsune, now a fugitive, fled to western Japan, accompanied by Benkei (guardian warrior monk) and Lady Shizuka (Yoshitsune's mistress).  When they arrived at a small inn west of Kyoto, they set plans to ride a boat down Yodo River, out to the sea to go even further west.

This is where the story of this Noh play starts.

Act 1: The first half of the play is set at the inn, where Benkei tries to persuade Shizuka to return to Kyoto, since a woman would not endure the arduous trip ahead.  Shizuka is determined to stay with her lover Yoshitsune, but when Yoshitsune himself suggests that Shizuka return to Kyoto, she tearfully agrees to leave.  The tearful party share farewell drinks, and Shizuka performs a dance to pray to the gods that some day the Minamoto brothers would reconcile.  Yoshitsune requests Benkei to delay their departure until the next day, so he can spend his last night with Shizuka, but Benkei persuades him that they set sail immediately.

(C) Kyoran / Nohgaku Illust

Act 2: In the latter half of the play, Yoshitsune and Benkei’s boat has reached the sea and is encountered by a terrible storm.  Then, on the tidal waves of the ocean, Yoshitsune and Benkei see ghosts of the Taira clan warriors that were killed in the recent war.  In particular, General Tomomori Taira’s vengeful ghost appears out of the waves and fiercely attacks Yoshitsune with his long-handled pole sword.  General Taira is determined to kill Yoshitsune at sea, just as Yoshitsune had demolished the Taira clan fleet in the sea battle at Dan-no-Ura.  While Yoshitsune tries to fight the ghost with his sword, Benkei starts praying and rubbing his Buddhist rosary beads.  Calmed by Benkei’s prayers, General Taira’s ghost eventually withdraws into the sea at dawn.

Synopsis in the-noh.com

Running Time: 65 minutes

My Comments

In the first half of Benkei in the Boat, the Shite (lead actor) plays Lady Shizuka.  Shite for this program was a tall male actor, taller even than Benkei the bodyguard.  Regardless, when Shite came out donning a beautiful kimono and a facial mask with a woman’s face engraved on it, together with his elegant demeanor and movements, he was actually convincing as the frail mistress.  He obviously had a male voice, but when he sang Shizuka’s sorrows, he sounded surprisingly feminine.  His prayer dance movements were subdued and graceful.  Even more surprisingly, when he placed his hand over his eyes and slightly tilted his head, which is a typical Noh gesture to imply that the person is crying, I was overcome with the outpouring of Shizuka’s deep sorrows.  Perhaps because all of his other movements had been minimal, the seemingly subdued hand gesture struck me as a very powerful expression of Shizuka’s tearful separation from her lover.

In the latter half of this play, the same Shite actor plays the ghost of General Tomomori

(C) Kyoran /
Nohgaku Illust

Taira, wearing an evil ghost mask and a flashy warrior costume, flinging around his long-handled pole sword.  He was a tall and scary ghost.  The sword fight was obviously an entertaining climax, but what scared the crap out of me was when the ghost initially entered the stage (or more precisely, when he entered the bridge that connects to the stage, as seen in the left half of the photo).  He appeared out of the curtain, glared at Yoshitsune and Benkei (who were sitting on the boat at the opposite end of the stage), and then suddenly started darting across the bridge towards the boat, in a smooth sliding motion as if he was on a snowboard.  This is apparently a Noh technique in which the actor walks or runs without bobbing his body.  The Shite actor's movement was so smooth, that as he moved fast and furious across the bridge, he really looked like a ghost, and it was sooooooo creepy!!

All the actors had amazing vocal skills.  This venue was by no means a small theater, housing over 600 seats, but surprisingly everyone’s voices were very clear and expressive.  There was no microphone, and none of the actors were yelling.  I would suspect that their vocal training must resemble that of an opera singer.  Maybe they also design the stage in such a way that it helps enhance the acoustics?  Also, the chorus consisted of about eight singers (each of whom are themselves professional Shite’s), and their chants were very soothing to my ears, somewhat resembling the Buddhist monks chanting.  I really enjoyed listening to the chorus.



Why I Lucked Out

Know Noh Program booklet

I picked this program simply because I like Benkei, a popular historical figure, but it also turned out that the Know Noh Program is aimed for beginner audience, so that was a nice surprise.  They handed out a booklet filled with information and historical backdrop on today’s plays, loaded with descriptive pictures of the characters and their costumes, plot-by-plot storyline, maps, historical timeline, etc.  This booklet was very helpful.  (I hope they make an English version too!)

Venue

National Noh Theatre
Personal screens display subtitles in Japanese and English

Every seat came with a small personal monitor installed on the back of the seat in front.  This monitor displayed the subtitles in three channels: original transcript, English, and modern Japanese.  I tried all of them, and noticed the English channel had very good English.  (They used tax money to build this thing, so they’d better use a good translator!)  The subtitles really helped me follow the story with ease, so that I could instead focus my attention on the vibe and ambiance of the production.  Many other Noh theaters are not equipped with the personal monitor system, so I would highly recommend the National Noh Theatre as the venue of choice for first-timers.


Last Impression

Attending this Know Noh program was an eye-opening experience for me.  I was surprised to see myself truly enjoying the entertainment, as well as being wholeheartedly moved by the profound expressions of human emotions.  I am excited about “discovering” this great form of theater and cannot wait to go see more!