Musashi
Opening Night: July 7, 2010
Closing: July 10, 2010
Theater: Lincoln Center Theater
Musashi is a noh-inspired play that depicts a ruthless hunt for revenge circa 1600 between two samurai, brought to light through intense drama and riotous comedy. This powerful production stars 28-year-old Japanese superstar Tatsuya Fujiwara. Famed playwright Hisashi Inoue begins the saga with a showdown between Musashi and Kojiro, after which Kojiro is fatally defeated (whether or not Kojiro survived is historically unknown). Although the legend ends here, Inoue continues to develop the plot. In this production, with its lush evocation of the countryside, the pair unexpectedly meets again six years later at a Zen temple and agrees to a rematch. Performed in Japanese with English supertitles.
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July 9, 2010
Behold the mighty samurai, standing tall and vigilant, their hard faces fixed in forbidding scowls. Tremble as they draw their long swords and assume their martial positions. Watch as they stumble and fall, shouting at one another like forcibly separated school bullies, after having had their ankles tied to those of three other men. Observe them as, still solemn-faced, they join a ritualistic chorus line, dancing delightfully across the stage to what sounds like accordion tango music.
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July 9, 2010
The Japanese import "Musashi," which opened the Lincoln Center Festival last night, is inspired by a legendary 17th-century sword fight. Were this an American production — particularly a Western — you’d anticipate a long buildup of escalating tension, and the event itself would be a climactic confrontation.
READ THE REVIEWJuly 8, 2010
When two rival samurai, Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki, met on the shores of Funashima in the 17th century, their climactic duel became a touchstone of Japanese legend. In history, the former emerged victorious, but in "Musashi," an upbeat revision of this legend penned by Hisashi Inoue, the warrior-philosopher of the title summons a doctor to tend to the wounded Kojiro. The remainder of the recently deceased Inoue’s narrative asks what might have happened if these two opponents ever crossed swords again.
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