“Between the Stones,” a two-act noh drama in English, is set in two stone gardens—Ryoan-ji temple in Kyoto and a new stone garden on an island in the West.

The audience experienced a han noh (half noh) of classical noh Takasago, followed by a fifteen-minute break. Then, the full performance of “Between the Stones” was performed in traditional noh style using the classical noh music, costumes, performance style, and masks—the only difference was that it was sung in contemporary English, though written and composed using traditional structures.

The gardens and the central characters in this noh (a traveller, and a woman gardener who transforms into the spirit of the garden in the second act), may be based on real places and people, but they become the essence of something universal when the traveller realises that two gardens far apart share a legacy of enduring peace, beauty, and love.

It began in my mind with philosophical reflections about “limits” and the following thoughts:

On grief:

Loss may be felt by everyone. It is hard to share intense grief. It is something deeply personal, inward facing and debilitating. Reconciling the only fact that can be predicted about human beings—that they will die—with the process and consequences of death itself, is one of the greatest challenges for the living.

On friendship and mentors:

Someone who becomes a lifelong friend and mentor takes trust to the highest level. They are not unearthly, nor faultless, but they will find you when you are lost, and join you on life’s journey when you need it.

On gardening:

When I first pulled the rake across the gravel, I knew this was going to be an intense mind and body experience, and contrary to the stillness of the aesthetic beauty of the finished raked garden. Gardening uses our minds, bodies, feelings and creative abilities; and is immensely pragmatic and of this earth.

Finding beauty in sadness is the essence I wanted to convey in this new noh drama. It draws on the “setting of the stones”—the creation of gardens—and the solace and space they provide for reflection.

Noh has a wonderful capacity to be specific and vague, real and unreal, close and yet distant… vulnerable and yet somehow strong all at the same time. Noh creates symbolic representations of real life experiences. This is the essence embodied in “Between the Stones.” The seeds of reflection are planted deep in the poetic text and then blossom through the minimalist noh performance techniques so beautifully performed by the Oshima Noh Theatre and Theatre Nohgaku during this rare European tour. Through the art of noh we can travel beyond our cultural norms and deep inside ourselves to explore our common humanity.