Stories are universal.

As long as they are told by humans, they inevitably carry human truths regardless of their cultural origins.

They encapsulate our love, hate, joy, despair, greed, lust, wisdom, stupidity… No matter how different we think we are from “them”, we are really not that different.

Rakugo specialises in our imperfect nature, being full of flaws and mistakes (a perfect format for someone like me!). In fact, rakugo was defined as the “acceptance of human nature/ karma” (業の肯定) by the rakugo legend, Tatekawa Danshi V (technically VII).

About a month ago, I did a little experiment with Babel Theatre to prove that the essence of rakugo is universal.

I am a bit of a rebel, but as a rakugo performer and an actor, I could not resist this experiment. It was too tempting.

Here is the rather unconventional approach I took in my experiment:

1. Participants externally explored the stock characters from rakugo through “shigusa” (set movements), postures, hand positions, etc. while sitting down in the seiza position
2. Participants internally experienced and processed these characters in the sitting position
3. When the characters were fully internalised, actors stood up and performed improvised scenes as rakugo characters
4. Using characters developed in 1-3, actors reenacted 3 folktales from New Zealand, England, and Latin America

The result of the experiment?

Look at the photos, and decide for yourself.

But I am personally very pleased with it!!!