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Mad Words: the Art of Kyogen - Fall Anime Marathon
Saturday, November 14 · Japan Connection's Fall Anime Marathon

The third production in a tradition that began during the CWRU Japan Connection's Fall 2008 Anime Marathon and continued at the Spring 2009 Marathon, once more comes Mad Words: the Art of Kyōgen, a series of short Japanese farces in the style of classic comedic Kyōgen updated for a crowd of otaku with more foolish servants, pompous nobles, tricky shysters, living ghosts, silly demons, and even an eggplant!
Photography by Aaron Teiser. See the full album of the performance.

Hanago : ("Visiting Hanago")
A husband convinces his wife to let him mediate in privacy... But the husband has his friend disguise himself as him so he can go out for a fun night on the town Having discovered this, the wife disguises herself as the disguised friend Having heard his exploits, the angry wife chases her husband away
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (a husband)
ado: (his wife)
koado: (Tarō'kaja, a family friend)
 Megan Matthews
Martha Sicking
Mike Brown
The harassed husband attempts to sneak off to have a fun night on the town, leaving his friend disguised as him in meditation. But when his irate wife discover the plot, the tables get turned on who is under the cape!

Fumi Ninai : ("Two to Carry a Letter")
The master has a note of thanks to send The master sends his two foolish servants to deliver the note The servants fight over the letter, ripping it into pieces! The master discovers the servants incorrectly putting the letter back together
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (Tarō'kaja, a servant)
ado: (His master)
koado: (Jirō'kaja, another servant)
 Megan Matthews
Chuck Minch
Jess Rudolph
Unwilling to trust his two foolish servants guarding his house, the master sends them to deliver his letter of thanks. What could possibly go wrong with such a simple and straightforward task?

Buaku, the Living Ghost
The master orders Taro'kaja to kill the lazy Buaku Buaku guilts his friend Taro'kaja into sparing his life Taro'kaja makes up an epic tale on how he carried out his master's order to kill Buaku The master and Taro'kaja stumble upon the 'ghost' of Buaku!
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (Buaku, a servant)
ado: (his master)
koado: (Tarō'kaja, another servant)
 Chuck Minch
Greg Tongue
Jess Rudolph
The angered master orders Tarō'kaja to execute the lazy Buaku but instead the two servants have to pretend Buaku is a ghost and trick their master.

Kamabara : ("The Sickley Stomach")
The husband and wife fight once again The husband decides to kill himself - but is too chicken! The wife promises to do anything if the husband will stop trying to kill himself... ...except for killing herself in his place!
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (a husband)
ado: (his wife)
koado: (Tarō'kaja, a family friend)
 Megan Matthews
Martha Sicking
Mike Brown
Unable to take it anymore, the husband tries to kill himself - but finds the idea of suicide too distressing and painful!

Dobu Kachiri : ("Plunk! Clink!")
A blind mand his blind servant need to ford a river A shyster tricks the blind servant into carrying him The blind servant is too tired to then carry his blind master and both slip into the water The shyster steals their sake
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (a blind man)
ado: (Kikuichi, his blind servant)
koado: (Igui, a shyster)
 Mike Brown
Jess Rudolph
Greg Tongue
A blind man and his blind servant try to cross a river but are harassed by a shyster they don't even know is there!

Oni no Mamako : ("The Demon's Stepchild")
The oni demon who torments the husband in the afterlife! The oni forces the wife to marry him to save her husband... ...but the oni wasn't prepared for the wife to start berating him like she does her real husband! To flee the wife, the oni ressurects the husband - only to again be harassed by his wife!
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (an oni)
ado: (a widow)
koado: (Tarō'kaja, a family friend)
koado: (the husband)
 Megan Matthews
Martha Sicking
Mike Brown
Megan Matthews
To save her husband from torment by an oni in the afterlife, the wife agrees to marry the demon - but as soon as she starts giving him household chores, the poor monster is terrified!

Ki no Mi Arasoi : ("The Battle of Fruits & Vegetables")
The eggplant and the tangerine argue over sake and flower viewing on the mountain The eggplant raises an army of vegetables while the tangerine raises an army of fruits The epic battle between fruits and vegetables draws near! 'Oh no! A cold gust of wind!'
Kyōgen-kata
shite: (an eggplant)
ado: (a tangerine)
tachishū: (a turnip)
tachishū: (a radish)
tachishū: (a carrot)
tachishū: (an apple)
tachishū: (a melon)
tachishū: (a tomato)
tachishū: (a cold gust of wind)
 Greg Tongue
Johnny Knight
Jess Rudolph
Mike Brown
Chuck Minch
Megan Matthews
Ahlia Szymanski
Martha Sicking
Marshall Hughes
An argument over mountain viewing and sake lead both the eggplant and the tangerine to raise armies to battle each other!

The Program for the Performance (PDF) Video playlist for prior Mad Words

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The Confused Greenies is an officially recognized student organization by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) of Case Western Reserve University but The Confused Greenies do not represent USG or the University or its policies. i Verdi Confusi is an active troupe in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) but is not an officially recognized entity nor represents the SCA, any local chapters, or policies.
Email the troupe at lazzi@case.edu with any questions or comments.
This page last updated on Friday, March 19, 2010.