4 December 2018
It was a great pleasure to share our experience of noh, and a reading of the new noh, Between the Stones, at the British Library on 4 December 2018. This event was the first general public audience event in London of the Between the Stones Project: Getting to Noh from Page to Stage education and outreach programme.
We were delighted that Hamish Todd, Head of East Asian Collections, was there to open the evening and to welcome everyone. David Hughes, Research Associate and retired Head of Department, Department of Music and Research Associate, Japan Research Centre SOAS, University of London, introduced Jannette and her collaboration with Richard Emmert and professional noh actors, and gave a brief introduction to the musical qualities of noh as part of the introduction to noh. This was followed by the reading of Between the Stones.
On this occasion we were delighted to have the following people participate in the reading of the new noh: Paul Laikin, reading the part of the traveller (the Waki); Henrietta Heald, as the Woman Gardener and the Spirit of Farmor (the Shite); David Hughes, as the Priest (the Ai); young Clementine Laikin, who so beautifully read the part of the Lost Child from the City of Odawara (Kokata); and Jannette (as the Chorus).
Many thanks to the whole team and especially to those who joined us for the evening. The enthusiasm and the positive response at the end of the evening serves as a great encouragement to all those involved in the project.
“Congratulations on a very special event, combining a great deal of fascinating information about Noh itself with the personal story of your play and its development. The play reading was deeply moving and I trust it will encourage the audience to come on the journey from Page to Stage. We are looking forward to hosting the next event in the series on 5th February 2019.”
“Saw the reading of Between the Stones this evening. Beautiful words, amazing performance and inspirational talk about the tradition and approach which is Noh. Thank you.”