狂言鑑賞 ENJOYING KYOGEN

　狂言鑑賞

能楽堂で狂言を観てきた。演目は「佐渡狐（さどぎつね）」「寝音曲（ねおんぎょく）」「千切木（ちぎりき）」。「千切木」では、人間国宝の山本東次郎がシテを演じた。
「佐渡狐」は佐渡に狐がいるかの問に対して、いると答えた百姓の話。「寝音曲」は酒を呑んで膝枕で謡を謡う話。「千切木」は連歌の会で仲間外れになった男の話。
いずれの狂言もユーモラスで落語に似ており、くすくす笑った。（皆、真面目に聞いているので、落語みたに大笑いするところも、笑いを皆さん御していた）
以前、能を観に行ったことがあったけれど、テンポがゆっくりで、間延びして、話の中身が分からず、眠りはしなかったが、エンジョイできなかった。今日は分かりやすく面白かった。
また、狂言あれば行きたい。

Kyogen Performance

 

I went to Nohgaku-do to see three kyogen plays (traditional short comedic drama): Sado-gitsune, Neongyoku, and Chigiriki.
　　Sado-gitsune is a drama where a farmer asks a Sado-Islander if there is a fox in the island, to which the islander tells a lie, saying that there is; Neongyoku is about a man who sings an ancient song with his head on the listener’s lap; and Chigiriki is about an old man who is ostracized by the group of haiku lovers which he wants to belong to.
　　Each kyogen was humorous and similar to rakugo (funny story telling). I couldn’t help chuckling, but most of the kyogen viewers were too serious to laugh.
　　A few years ago I went to see Noh plays (traditional masked dance-dramas), but the Noh actors’ movements were so slow and the background music so soft that I felt sleepy. However, I enjoyed the kyogen very much. I would like to see kyogen again.