Background

Between the Stones was the third artistic collaboration between Richard Emmert and Jannette Cheong in the 17 years that they have known each other. The first time they collaborated was in 2008-9 when they created the acclaimed English-language noh Pagoda; the first Oshima Theatre and Theatre Nohgaku joint production supported by Bunkacho (the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs) in 2009 when the production toured to London, Dublin, Oxford, Paris. Then, based on its initial success in Europe, they also supported the tour to Asia in 2011 - opening at the National Noh Theatre, Tokyo, and touring to Kyoto, Beijing and Hong Kong. 

The Between the Stones Project was another major co-production by Richard Emmert, and Jannette Cheong in association with the Oshima Theatre, Theatre Nohgaku and also Unanico. This followed their acclaimed 2017 co-production: Noh time like the present... a Tribute to Akira Matsui. Unanico supported the delivery of this tribute project.

Since we began the Between the Stones project in the Summer of 2017, the number and range of contributors and supporters and interest in this work grew substantially. Key sponsors for the project which was included in the 2020 Japan Season of Culture, included the Japan Foundation, Mitsubishi Corporation International (Europe) Plc and Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. We are grateful for their tremendous vision and belief in our work.  

Creating new noh

To create a new noh using traditional noh techniques and perform this in Europe was an ambitious project. The Between the Stones Project was particularly ambitious in terms of the timing - as it was planned to be completed from page to stage in two years (2018-2020) to allow for the completion of the project to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the associated Japan-UK Season of Culture. 

What made the project different is not only that the associated programme of education and outreach work took centre stage so that we (audiences and the project team) would all learn about the development of this new noh within a similar timeframe, but also, importantly, that each phase of the project was envisaged to be of value in, and of, itself to try to engage with as many as people as possible throughout the life of the project. 

Artistic challenges

Writing and composing for noh are both wonderful and substantial artistic challenges. Producing noh, especially as artists, is many times more difficult. When Pagoda was performed in London in 2009 we were informed by those in the Japan cultural and arts world that there had not been a full-length performance of noh in London for 19 years. It is now 13 years since the Pagoda project. Indeed, these are rare undertakings. The art of noh is becoming more known in general through the work of others, both inside and outside of Japan, who have toured their work internationally, but English language noh remains a relatively rare experience for international audiences. 

It is impossible to produce noh without the support of many others: artists, contributing partner organisations, audiences and most of all - sponsors. Our vision and aims embrace these challenges and we believe that it is important to share what we and our collaborating artists and partners learn and achieve.

We developed the Between the Stones project and, indeed, this website, to help support this process, and at the same time give others some understanding of noh and the extent of collaboration developed for such artistic and educational projects to develop.

In 2024 we plan to extent our engagement in cultural and educational development and collaboration by supporting a major exhibition and programme of activities in order to help others better understand the history and development of noh. We are grateful to all those who have worked with us to help enable the many aspects of our collaborative work over this entire period. We will keep you updated on these future developments as they emerge.

Past collaborations

When we decided to develop this website we felt it also made sense to include our past collaboration work. We have also combined performing arts with educational and other activities to raise awareness and understanding of noh to a wide range of audiences predominantly outside, but also inside, Japan. This comes under the umbrella of our ‘Getting to Noh’ activities.

We have written extensive reports for each of the major project collaborations between Jannette Cheong, Richard Emmert, the Oshima Theatre, Theatre Nohgaku and Unanico. Jannette Cheong and Richard Emmert’s first artistic collaboration Pagoda had two successful tours. See Pagoda Tour Reports (2009, 2011). Pagoda was the first English language noh to be written by a British writer using traditional noh techniques. The Pagoda project inspired other collaborations to blossom both indirectly, for example, the Noh Training Project UK which Richard Emmert helped to found and direct in 2011 with Ashley Thorpe; and directly, through the on-going project development work of Jannette Cheong and Unanico. 

The second artistic collaboration between Jannette Cheong and Richard Emmert was a co-production with Unanico Group - the cross cultural programme ‘Noh time like the present… A Tribute to Akira Matsui’ performed as four separate pieces at LSO St Luke’s (London 2017) showcasing the art of noh working with western theatre (a noh rendition of Rockaby by Samuel Beckett), western classical music (Bach meets noh), and opera and contemporary ballet - for which Jannette Cheong wrote the noh conceptual piece Opposites-InVerse exploring aspects of philosophy, science and the art of noh, with music and direction by Richard Emmert and choreography by Akira Matsui and Peter Leung. 

However, this project was focused on paying tribute to the talents of professional noh performer: Akira Matsui.

Read the international tributes about the amazing work of Akira Matsui here and also the project report.