Unity Through Community

May 4 - 13, 2018

Fridays and Saturdays at 7

Sundays at 4

Approx. 2 hours, with one intermission and one brief interlude.

Stand up and act out

May Mayhem returns this year with Power Plays. Theatre of Yugen is deeply indebted to the history of civil rights, community, and social justice that the current President and his administration are so flagrantly disregarding. So we’re fighting back with our favorite weapon: satire.

Kyōgen satirizes those in power, revealing them to be no better (or sometimes even worse!) than the common man. Theatre of Yugen is excited to present two classic kyōgen plays, A Religious Dispute and Wrestling With a Mosquito, and premiere two contemporary kyōgen adaptations, Those Mushrooms and All Wrecked Up.

THE CLASSICS

A Religious Dispute features two traveling priests, both on their way home to the capital from sacred pilgrimages. When they meet on the road, they decide to travel home together. But not all is as it seems! They soon discover that they are from rivaling Buddhist sects and end up engaged in a convoluted philosophical debate, each trying to prove their theology more profound and appealing that then other.

With Lluis Valls, Nick Ishimaru, Ryan Marchand, and Sara Matsui-Colby

Directed by Yuriko Doi

Wrestling With a Mosquito finds a samurai lord in want of new servants for his retinue. His loyal retainer goes and brings back the spirit of a man-sized mosquito by mistake! The samurai lord, eager to demonstrate his grandeur, unwittingly challenges the blood-thirsty mosquito to a wrestling match. Who will win in this struggle of two ridiculous titans?

With Ryan Marchand, Nick Ishimaru, Sara Matsui-Colby, and Lluis Valls

Directed by Yuriko Doi

NEW ORIGINALS

Those Mushrooms, adapted by the cast, presents a story of unity and resistance in the face of a bafoonish leader. A down-on-his-luck small town American goes to the White House to ask the President how he will live up to his campaign promises. The President tells him that the root of his problem is really those strange and unusual “mushrooms” that no one seems to be able to get rid of, and promises to do something about it.

With Fenner, Nick Ishimaru, Virginia Blanco, Sara Matsui-Colby, Chris Petallano, Ryan Marchand, and Meryn MacDougall

Directed by Nick Ishimaru

Playing on the modern app-based “sharing economy” and delusions of Reefer Madness is All Wrecked Up, adapted by Sheila Berotti and the cast. When a party hostess needs to hold a party to out party all parties, who can she turn to but her favorite delivery boy? Offering a of under-the-table “green” compensation for an off-the-record job, the two quickly find that just because you have money, doesn’t mean you have a clue.

With Ryan Marchand and Meryn MacDougall