A Noh Christmas Carol
DECEMBER 6 - 29, 2019
Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8 PM / Sundays at 4 PM
At Theatre of Yugen
2840 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $10 Student / $35 General Admission / $45 VIP (includes free drinks and front row seats!)
DIRECTED BY NICK ISHIMARU
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Thursday, December 5: Preview performance! All tickets $15!
Friday, December 6: Opening night with post-show reception! Stay for a drink and snacks with the cast of A Noh Christmas Carol, on stage following the performance. All refreshments proudly contributed by our community partners. Reception included with admission!
Every Sunday: Post-show talk back with the director. Ever wondered what it takes to put on a show like A Noh Christmas Carol? Where do we find these costumes? Is this show a commentary on capitalism or existential philosophy? These talk backs are the perfect time all those questions you've been pondering and get a response directly from the artistic team.
* Please note, Theatre of Yugen box office cannot assist with Goldstar or TodayTix ticket transactions.
The perennial favorite is back!
This reimagined adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Yuriko Doi and Cienna Stewart from 1993 is told using a combination of noh, kyogen, kabuki, and butoh, bringing this classic story to life in a fashion like no other production does.
Ebezo Sukurooji [Ebenezer Scrooge] receives a visit from his deceased business partner Jakube Mashima [Jacob Marley] warning him to change his miserly ways or be doomed to linger forever as a hungry ghost. The miraculous intervention of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-To-Come take Sukurooji on a wondrous journey through life and time in a profound attempt to remind him of the value of life beyond business and profit.
Featuring: Roy Eikleberry, Nick Ishimaru, Meryn MacDougall, Ryan Marchand, Mika Oskarson-Kindstrand, and Kate Patrick
Lights: Cassie Barnes Costumes: Liz Brent Sound: Ella Cooley Set: Joshua McDermott Music: Zhoushu Ziporyn
Meet the Cast
ROY EIKLEBERRY (The Men) is ecstatic to be working as an actor in Theatre of Yugen's A Noh Christmas Carol this year! Along with running the Box Office at Theatre of Yugen, Roy sings, dances, and volunteers with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and handles the Alumni Network at Ray of Light Theatre in his spare time. He is a graduate of the Master's Voice Program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has been seen in the following past roles: Stuart Gellman (Caroline, or Change, Ray of Light Theatre), Torasso (Passion, Custom Made), Sam Himmelstein (Wild Party, Ray of Light), Jan the Wretched (Yeast Nation, Ray of Light), and Tiger Brown (Three Penny Opera, Waffle Opera).
NICK ISHIMARU (Koken, Director) has served as the Artistic Director at Theatre of Yugen since 2016. His work explores a combination of Western and traditional Asian performance techniques for original creations, along with work in conventional musical theatre and Shakespeare. He has trained in noh and kyōgen with Theatre of Yugen for over seven years. Ishimaru has also studied kabuki, jingju (Beijing Opera), and nihon buyo (traditional Japanese dance). He received a BA in Performing Arts from Colorado State University (2005), where he directed a kabuki adaptation of Macbeth, and a Masters in Drama from San Francisco State University, (2009). During his time as Artistic Director of Theatre of Yugen, he has directed several productions including The Red Demon (2016), A Noh Christmas Carol (2017, 2018, 2019), and Seen/By Everyone (2018). Ishimaru has appeared in numerous performances with Theatre of Yugen, both in San Francisco around the world, including Minor Cycle (2012), This Lingering Life (2014) and Mystical Abyss (Denver 2015), Yugen in Action (Iquique, Chile, 2019) and a plethora of kyōgen performances. He was most recently on stage in Puppets & Poe and Yugen-no-Kai: Aki.
MERYN MACDOUGALL (Ghost of Christmas Past and Ghost of Christmas Future) is a Bay Area actress. She has experience in stage, film, commercial, voice over, fight choreography, and print. She has had the joy of working with Theatre of Yugen for the last 3 years. She would like to thank Nick, Lluis, and the Yugen Community for all the wonderful training and opportunities given to her. Also a special thanks to her husband and dog for the support and cuddles.
RYAN MARCHAND (Sukurooji Ebezo) is a Los Angeles native who moved to the Bay Area to attend San Francisco State, where he completed his BA in French with a minor in Theatre in 2008. He was a founding member of 11th Hour Ensemble and was awarded a CA$H Grant for their original adaptation and performance of Alice. Since then Marchand has performed, directed, and taught in the Bay Area with particular focus on new and devised works. Recently Marchand performed in Chiori Miyagawa’s world premiere This Lingering Life with Theatre of Yugen whose work is founded in traditional Japanese theater forms; African American Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and he has performed in a range of San Francisco Theatre events including the San Francisco Theatre Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens and the Bay One Acts Festival. He served as movement director for Kat Evasco’s Mommy Queerest, which enjoyed runs in San Francisco with Guerilla Rep and in Boston with The Theatre Offensive; he directed with Playwright’s Foundation for their 2015 and 2016 Flash Plays. Most recently Marchand worked as Program + Artistic Director of Handful Players – a free afterschool musical theater program based in the Western Addition, from 2009 to 2018. Currently Ryan is a member of Nice Tan comedy, a WOC/QPOC led sketch comedy group that pokes fun at the complexity of identity, and he works at San Francisco Opera as part of their newly formed Department of Diversity, Equity and Community.
MIKA OSKARSON-KINDSTRAND (The Women) is an actor, assistant director and producer based in Uppsala, Sweden. She has performed within theatre since the age of six and contributed to major productions at some of the top institutions in Scandinavia. Since a young age she has participated in regular exchange programs with theatre troupes from different parts of the world, including China, India and Japan. Recent acting credits include Isagel in Aniara, A Wanderer in The Wanderer and the Moon (Benhuset, Katarina Kultur) and The Artist in To sow a seed of doubt (TeaterML02). She also performed in Children’s Sky (Dairakudakan’s Golden Show 2018, Japan) and participated the ji-utai (chorus) for Emily - an English Language Noh (Theatre Nohgaku and Centre for Asian Theatre and Performance at Royal Holloway, UK). Mika has been studying Noh-theatre since 2017 with Theatre Nohgaku and the Kita School.
KATE PATRICK (Mashima Jakubei and the Ghost of Christmas Present), a recent transplant to San Francisco, started training with Theatre of Yugen in February, 2019. She has appeared as both the Older Brother and Younger Brother in Fukuro Yamabushi at the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival and the Santa Cruz Japanese Cultural Festival respectively. Previous experience in traditional Japanese theater includes her role as the second Yamabushi in University of Hawai’i, Mānoa’s 2016 production of a new kyogen play, Futari Yamabushi, and a 2017-18 Fulbright Research Grant to study traditional ji-kabuki costumes and practices under Sachie Oguri at the Museum Nakasendou and Aioi-za Theater in Mizunami, Japan. While there she performed in two kabuki classics, Sodehagi Saimon as Hachiman Taro Yoshiie, and Fuji Musume. Kate has an MFA in Costume Design from University of Hawai’i, Mānoa.