24 October 2018
We were delighted to undertake a talk at SOAS as part of the SOAS Japan Research Centre Seminar Series. Jannette delivered the initial talk on ‘What is noh?’ and ‘How do you develop a new noh ‘from page to stage’? She was then joined by David Hughes, Paul Laikin (and the star of the reading) 10-year old Clementine, who joined us for the first time to read the part of the Lost Child from the City of Odawara. Many people came up to us after to express their appreciation of the talk and reading and we are grateful for their appreciation, interest and questions at the end.
“I attended this event on 24 October because I wanted to hear the text again spread across different voices. The density of the poetic text means that it repays being heard several times and even then will not, I suspect, give up all its meanings.
The introduction to Noh, which preceded the reading, was useful for those of us to whom the form is strange. The reading which followed gained considerably from the use of different voices for different character, particularly the part of the young child which Clementine made clear and sharply differentiated from the other characters.
I love the text and am looking forward to hearing it again at the British Library.”