Music Kyogen Scrooge, produced by Noriko Kawamura, is an innovative theatrical production that combines Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Japanese traditional comedy play Kyogen, and contemporary music. The two leading Kyogen masters, Juro Zenchiku (the holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property) and Daijiro Zenchiku, perform their roles according to the traditional Kyogen practice with a libretto written by Koichi Nagaya for this production. The chamber ensemble, formed by Noriko Kawamura (Violin), Tomomi Ota (Accordion), and Fumio Shirato (Double Bass), provides the Western-style music composed by Walther Giger.

We are grateful to the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Faculty of Music and the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, whose generous grant and support enable us to bring this Japanese Kyogen performance to England, the birthplace of A Christmas Carol.