Kenjutsu

Kenjutsu
Theater	The Hideout Theatre
Directed by	Kareem Badr Shannon McCormick
Cast	Audrey Rachel Sansom Brad Hawkins Cat Drago Jayme Ramsay Jeff Britt Jordan T. Maxwell Justin Davis Lacy Shawn Marc Majcher Quinn Buckner Ruby Willmann Shannon McCormick
Crew	Cindy Page (lights) Michael Yew (sound)
Run	Mar/Apr 2014

Kenjutsu (full title: Kenjutsu: The Art of the Sword) was a mainstage show at The Hideout Theatre that was inspired by Japanese samurai films.

Summary

The show depicted epic tales of corruption, power, and betrayal set in feudal Japan, inspired by Japanese samurai films such as Seven Samurai, Harakiri, and 13 Assassins.

The cast trained with, and used on stage, actual bokken (wooden samurai swords). Combat was performed in slow motion. (Somehow, every character Marc Majcher played survived every duel.)

Generally, the cast eschewed non-stop action, focusing instead on patience and developing tension.

Prior to the title being finalized, the show was referred to familiarly as Kurosawa in honor of director Akira Kurosawa.

It was featured on the April 18th, 2014 episode of the Yo, Is This Racist? podcast. Host Andrew Ti and guest Tom Kauffman ruled that the show was racist. Kenjutsu: The Art of the Sword was mentioned again on the 5th, 2015 episode of Yo, Is This Racist? when host Andrew Ti used it as an example of "left wing racism".

Media

Video

• Video by Warren Henderson of the 3/29/14 show.

Photos

• Photoset by Michael Yew of rehearsals.
• Photoset by Warren Henderson of a show.
• Photoset by Steve Rogers of the 3/22/14 show.
• Photoset by Chris Curl of the 4/12/14 show.
  • Photoset by Heidi Rogers of the same show.

More Information

• Initial show announcement on the Hideout's web site.
• Hideout blog post about the show by Kareem Badr.
• Interview with the directors by Wayne Allen Brenner for The Austin Chronicle.
• [1] Discussion of the show on the Yo, Is This Racist? podcast 04/18/14
• [2] Further discussion of the show on the Yo, Is This Racist? podcast 02/05/15