VOLPONE by Ben Jonson

A Kyogen Adaptation

Directed by Lluis Valls

Adaptation originally conceived by Jubilith Moore

Join us to finally experience the full production of our Kyogen adaptation of Volpone, the 17th-century British satire about human greed, lust, and manipulation set in Venice.

Volpone (The Fox) is a Venetian gentleman who pretends to be on his deathbed after a long illness in order to dupe Voltore (The Vulture), Corbaccio (The Raven) and Corvino (The Crow), three men who aspire to inherit his fortune. Each of them visits Volpone's house bearing a luxurious gift, intent upon having his name inscribed to the will of Volpone as his heir. Mosca (The Fly), Volpone's parasite servant, encourages each man in turn to believe that he has been named heir to Volpone's fortune. However, the scheme spirals out of control as greed and deception escalate. Mosca’s manipulations cause chaos, leading to betrayals and unexpected twists in this biting satire of human folly.

DATES AND TIMES:

Friday, February 28, 7pm | Saturday, March 1, 5pm | Sunday, March 2, 2pm

Friday, March 7, 7pm | Saturday, March 8, 5pm | Sunday, March 9, 2pm

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour 40 minutes with an intermission

VENUE: Theatre of Yugen’s NOHSpace (2840 Mariposa St., San Francisco, CA 94110)

TICKETS (General Admission): $35 (Regular) | $28 (Community Discount - if the price is a barrier)

CAST:

Ryan Marchand as Volpone

Nick Ishimaru as Mosca

Fenner Merlick as Voltore

Meryn MacDougall as Corbaccio

Kate Patrick as Corvino

Adrian Deane as Bonario

Sheila Devitt as Celia

Joe Galang as Nano & Guard

Tiger Zhou as Avocatorio​​

Artists

Lluís Valls, Director: Lluís Valls acts, directs, and writes for the theatre. He has studied Noh with Richard Emmert, Akira Matsui, and Teruhisa Oshima (Kita school), Kyogen with Yukio Ishida, Go Iida and Yuriko Doi (Izumi school), and Kotsuzumi Noh drum with Mitsuo Kama (Ko school), as well as training in butoh, Suzuki method, and clowning. A graduate of SFSU, Lluís has been a disciple of founder Yuriko Doi since 1993 and served as Theatre of Yugen’s Joint Artistic Director with Jubilith Moore and Libby Zilber from 2002 - 2008. He has been a main actor for Yugen since 1997 and currently serves as the Director of the Kyogen Company. Lluís is also a founding member of the local Clown company Clowns on a Stick, as well as international Noh troupe Theatre Nohgaku with whom he has toured throughout Europe, Asia and the US.

Ryan Marchand, as Volpone: Ryan Marchand began performing with Theater of Yugen in 2009. A Los Angeles native, he moved to the Bay Area to attend San Francisco State University, where he first trained in Noh and Kyogen. As a theater maker, he has worked with a variety of companies including Crowded Fire, Shotgun Players, African American Shakespeare Company, Bindelstiff Studios, Kunoichi Productions, and Playwright’s Foundation. Ryan is the current Director of San Francisco Opera’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Community.

Nick Ishimaru, as Mosca: Nick Ishimaru (he/him) is a co-founder of San Francisco-based Kunoichi Productions. Prior to working with Kunoichi, he served as the Artistic Director of Theatre of Yugen from 2016 to 2020. He holds a BA in Performing Arts from Colorado State University, where he directed a kabuki adaptation of Macbeth, a Masters in Drama from San Francisco State University, and did additional doctorate work at the University of Hawaii. He has trained in noh and kyōgen for over 10 years with San Francisco’s Theatre of Yugen, Theatre Nohgaku, and the Kita school noh master Oshima Teruhisa in Tokyo. Ishimaru has also studied kabuki, jingju (Beijing Opera), and nihon buyo (traditional Japanese dance). He has led master classes on various performing arts topics for all levels from elementary school through university, and has presented work at conferences and university lectures both in the Bay Area and internationally.

Ishimaru has directed many productions including The Red Demon, A Noh Christmas Carol, Seen/By Everyone, The True Tale of Princess Kaguya, Fun Home, Never Mind, and Anything Goes. He has performed in A Noh Christmas Carol, Puppets and Poe, The True Tale of Princess Kaguya, Bellini’s Norma, Carmen, Mame, and dozens of English language kyōgen, among others.

Fenner Merlick, as Voltore: Fenner Merlick is a performing and teaching artist in the Bay Area. Pedagogically rooted in Kyogen and Noh theater, clown, and bouffon, viewpoints, suzuki, butoh, and viewpoints. They studied Theater at UC Berkeley, trained at Dell Arte International, and are a company member of Theatre of Yugen and Kismet Arts Tangent. They have performed with Cutting Ball, Custom Made, foolsFury, Ragged Wing Ensemble, Liar Liar Theater, PACE Gallery in Menlo Park, and won Best of the SF Fringe in 2013 and 2022 for collaboratively created shows. In 2022 they were awarded an excellence in theater award by the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Meryn MacDougall, as Corbaccio: Meryn MacDougall is a Bay Area artist. Meryn works in Theatre and Film as an actor, director, and fight director. She has had the joy of working with Theatre of Yugen for the last 6 years. She would like to thank Lluís Valls and the Yugen Community for all the wonderful opportunities and training they have provided. One of her independent film projects, UN/FILTERED, was featured at film festivals in the spring of 2024.

Kate Patrick, as Corvino: Currently based in San Francisco, Kate Patrick has been an ensemble member with Theatre of Yugen since 2019. Most recently she has appeared as the Crab Spirit in Kani Yamabushi, the Master in Busu, and Corvino in last year's adaptation of Volpone, Act I and II. Next Spring, she is excited to reprise her role for Volpone, as well as design and build special costume pieces for this production. She has also done costume work for various local theaters including San Francisco Opera, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley and New Conservatory Theatre Center. 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.

Sheila Devitt, as Celia: Sheila is a San Francisco-based theatre artist, and joined the Yugen ensemble for her apprenticeship with Jubilith Moore in 2010. She has trained with Fujii-sensei (Hosho Noh Theatre, Tokyo), performing in their 2013 school recital; and Kinue Oshima sensei (Kita school), at the Noh Training Project 2019 with Theatre Nohgaku. Theatre of Yugen credits include multiple Kyogen performances at Matsuri festivals around the Bay Area; Sorya! A Minor Cycle; Emmett Till: A River; and the world premiere of Chiori Miyagawa’s This Lingering Life.

Sheila is a proud member of the Actors’ Reading Collective (ARC), born out of pandemic lockdown. (Shakespeare and the Zombie Plague of 1590, Into the Breeches, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Ferryman, Roe, Mother Road). During the pandemic closures, she participated in an online actors reading group that performed all 38 plays of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, plus 12 more Shakespeare-adjacent plays.

Sheila has been an ensemble member with the found-object puppetry company Lunatique Fantastique (E.O. 9066, Beauty and the Breast, The Wrapping Paper Caper); and a founding company member with Bacchus Players @ Coppola Winery (Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Other regional credits include Marin Shakespeare Co., African American Shakespeare Co., Brava! for Women in the Arts, Town Hall Theatre Co., Ross Valley Players, Cinnabar Theatre, and more. Sheila has served as Marketing & Engagement Manager for Golden Thread Productions; Lead House Manager at the San Francisco Playhouse; co-producer of the 2020 Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival; regional coordinator of the StateraArts mentorship program: to uplift, amplify and advance women in the arts; as well as Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Vortex theatre, Albuquerque, 1999-2003. Sheila received a certificate in Stanislavsky studies from the Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard; BFA, University of New Mexico, focus on bilingual performances of Federico Garcia Lorca’s pastoral trilogy. Up next: Sheila is stage managing Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie at the 222 in Healdsburg, CA. Thanks & gratitude to family, for the love & support that make this work possible; and to You, the audience, who make the performance complete.

Tiger Zhou, as Avocatorio: Tiger Zhou is an artist, storyteller, and aspiring educator. In college, she worked on multiple theater productions centering on Asian American issues and LGBTQ identities, including Among the Dead, Question 27, Question 28, Heathers: The Musical and The Headlands. As a student, she was cast in a leading role in the staged reading and production of an original adaptation of Guan Hanqing’s Snow in Midsummer. She is working towards a bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University.