Interrogations: Words of the Zen Masters October 9, 2010

Revered actor Yoshi Oida returns to the Japan Society stage in his solo tour-de-force, 'Interrogations: Words of the Zen Masters.' 'Interrogations' is a comedic work depicting a test given by a Zen master to one of his students. The student must answer a series of questions framed in koans (riddles that defy rational thought) correctly in order to "graduate" (e.g. "How does a man who has climbed to the top of a pole go farther?"). The test continues for several days, designed to determine if the student has reached enlightenment. Since its premiere in 1979 at the Avignon Festival, this one-man play with live musical accompaniment - "part theater, part music, part movement and all religious philosophy," as described by John Rockwell in The New York Times - has been hailed as Oida's masterwork. Oida's uproarious performance is accompanied live by Berlin-based experimental musician Dieter Trustedt.