Ryūtei Komichi Rakugo Show （10/100）

The other day, I attended a rakugo performance by Ryūtei Komichi.

In the past, I travelled all the way to Tokyo just to see her perform live. That time, she was hosting a special show featuring female rakugo performers, who presented traditional stories adapted with the characters reimagined as women. I was curious to see how the storyline might change (or not) when told from a woman's point of view.

At the performance the other night, Komichi-san presented a mixture: one "shinsaku rakugo" (or a relatively newly written rakugo story), a traditional story, a traditional dance called kappore, and a rakugo piece featuring a female lead in place of the usual male protagonist. Yay!

And boy, did she deliver.

I laughed so hard throughout the show. I never expected to hear menopause symptoms make their way into a rakugo story! She played with so many familiar, stereotypical female behaviors—little things had me bobbing my head up and down enthusiastically thinking, “I know what you mean!” But none of it felt derogatory or mean-spirited, perhaps because it was coming from a fellow woman.

As an amateur rakugo performer, I found the performance both enlightening and inspiring—it gave me a lot to think about for the next time I step on stage.