Noh Creation of Shakespeare

Kuniyodhi Munakata

doi:10.1515/mstap-2016-0018

Authors

Kuniyodhi Munakata Shizuoka National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1515/mstap-2016-0018

Keywords:

Noh, Noh Shakespeare, Zen, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Cordelia, Madam Reiko ADACHI, Kuniyoshi Munakata UEDA

Abstract

This article contains select comments and reviews on Noh Hamlet and Noh Othello in English and Noh King Lear in Japanese. The scripts from these performances were arranged based on Shakespeare’s originals and directed on stage and performed in English by Kuniyoshi Munakata from the early 1980s until 2014. Also, the whole text of Munakata’s Noh Macbeth in English (Munakata himself acted as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in one play) is for the first time publicized. The writers of the comments and reviews include notable people such as John Fraser, Michael Barrett, Upton Murakami, Donald Richie, Rick Ansorg, James David Audlin, Jesper Keller, Jean-Claude Saint-Marc, Jean-Claude Baumier, Judy Kendall, Allan Owen, Yoshio ARAI, Yasumasa OKAMOTO, Tatsuhiko TAIRA, Hikaru ENDO, Kazumi YAMAGATA, Hanako ENDO, Yoshiko KAWACHI, Mari Boyd, and Daniel Gallimore.

Author Biography

Kuniyodhi Munakata, Shizuoka National University

Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Shizuoka National University, and President of the International Society for Humanization of Cultural Civilization (ISHCC). He is a writer and performer of new Noh plays in English and Japanese, including Hamlet (1982), Othello (1986), Macbeth (1987), King Lear (1993), Cleopatra (2000) and Romeo and Juliet (2015). Recently he performed solo Noh Hamlet overseas；YouTube Noh Hamlet (2012, Manchester, abridged). In the 650 year history of Japanese Noh theatre he was the first to combine Noh and Shakespeare. His main publications are “Hamlet”and Noh Shakespeare (1991), Noh Othello (1998) and Noh Adaptation of Shakespeare (2001).

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