info@kingsplace.co.uk Tel 020 7520 1440
Basket Contact Us Search
What’s On Festivals & Series Memory UnwrappedMichael Mwenso's Soul AssemblyNoh ReimaginedAurora Orchestra

Genres

Date

Noh Reimagined 2025: Bashō, Matsukaze & Song of Rona Island (world premiere) 

Noh Reimagined returns as part of Kings Place’s Earth Unwrapped, celebrating the transcendent artistry of Japanese Noh theatre. This year features two classical masterpieces — Bashō and Matsukaze — alongside the world premiere of Song of Rona Island, a landmark collaboration between Scottish artists and Japanese Noh performers.

Bashō tells of a plant spirit embodying enlightenment, while Matsukaze follows two ghost sisters longing for a lost love. Song of Rona Island unites Scottish musicians and six Noh performers, blending sound and tradition to explore an abandoned island and fragile ecosystems.

Curated by Akiko Yanagisawa (Mu:Arts), Noh Reimagined is a festival and project that since 2016 has presented masterful performances and bold collaborations, showing Noh as a living art that speaks to memory, nature, and transformation. Noh Reimagined 2025 is supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, with the cooperation of TESSENKAI Public Interest Incorporated Association

https://noh.muarts.org.uk/

View shows & offers

Pre-Performance Talk - Bashō: The Botanical Mind

Words / Noh Reimagined

Gina Buenfeld-Murley, curator of the exhibition 'The Botanical Mind' at Camden Art Centre, joins Dr Christopher Harding, arts historian, to discuss the noh play 'Bashō' (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenchiku (1405–1470), ahead of its historic first-ever performance outside Japan.

Book tickets Find out more

Bashō (Plantain Tree)

Contemporary / Noh Reimagined

'Bashō' (Plantain Tree) by Konparu Zenchiku (1405–1470), is a mesmerising tale in which the spirit of a banana plant, appearing as a middle-aged woman, embodies the Lotus Sutra’s teaching that plants too, can attain enlightenment, reflecting a vision of the harmony and equality of humans and the natural world. 'Bashō', is performed first time outside Japan in history.

Book tickets Find out more

Discover the World of Matsukaze

Words / Noh Reimagined

Step into the world of the timeless masterpiece 'Matsukaze'. Uncover the hidden meanings layered poetic language and emotional depth. In this workshop, participants will gain a deeper appreciation of why 'Matsukaze' is one of noh’s most beloved works.

Book tickets Find out more

Pre-Performance Talk: 'Song of Rona Island'

Words / Noh Reimagined

An opportunity to hear from Kathleen Jaimie (poet and former Scottish Makar) about her essay ‘On Rona’, and how this essay inspired the creation of the Scottish-Noh theatre production ‘Song of Rona Island’ from Kanji Shimizu (Noh shite actor), Aidan O’Rourke (fiddler) and Brighde Chaimbeul.

Book tickets Find out more

Matsukaze & Song of Rona Island

Contemporary / Noh Reimagined

Matsukaze by Zeami Motokiyo (1363– c. 1443) is one of the most revered masterpieces of classical noh, and a work that Zeami himself held in special regard. Its haunting themes of ghostly love, memory, and seaside solitude that have inspired artists for centuries, echoing in opera, poetry, and painting in Japan and beyond. ‘Song of Rona Island’, inspired by ‘On Rona’ by Kathleen Jamie, follows a traveller on an ecological survey to an abandoned island in the Outer Hebrides, and their encounter its haunting past. Six noh performers – led by Kanji Shimizu – join forces with fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul in a groundbreaking new work bringing together Scottish music and culture with Japanese noh theatre.

Book tickets Find out more

Brìghde Chaimbeul and Aidan O'Rourke

Folk / ‘Under 30s’ Tickets

A duo of subtlety, close listening and deep musicianship bringing together two of Scotland’s most sensitive and exploratory traditional artists. Lau’s award-winning fiddler/composer Aidan O’Rourke teams up with pioneering piper Brìghde Chaimbeul to explore ancient tune repertoire.

Book tickets Find out more

Back to top