The Magic Fundoshi
Opens 7th April (*Previews 4th, 5th & 6th April)
Drama Centre @ Level 3 National Library

The performance contains adult themes and some nudity.
Suitable for audiences aged 16 years and above.

Lust… Desire... Sex… Underwear?!

The Magic Fundoshi is a saucy comedy made up of three parables poking fun at human frailties and our fleshly instincts.

With naughtily sparkling wit, wacky slapstick action and sumptuous sets and costumes, The Magic Fundoshi promises an exuberant evening of pure unadulterated joy!

Glen Goei sets out to outdo last year’s smash hit comedy Boeing Boeing with a brand-new revival of his award winning production.

This exciting production stars an outstanding ensemble comprising Singapore’s favourite and most versatile comedians: Hossan Leong, Jonathan Lim, Koh Boon Pin, Robin Goh and a special appearance by Emma Yong.

The Perfect Servants
The servants of two noble Japanese households are willing to do anything and everything to uphold the public reputations of their lazy master and mistress. Their determination to keep up appearances leads to hilarious consequences when they find themselves staging a passionate courtship on behalf of their employers – from writing letters and serenades, to a full-blown hair-down legs-up lovers’ rendezvous!!

The Magic Fundoshi
Taro-Kaja has left his fundoshi at his mistress’ home, and must find a replacement before his wife discovers his infidelity. With a cunning strategy inspired by “the emperor’s new clothes”, he tricks a passing samurai into giving up his fundoshi (loin cloth) in exchange for a ‘magic’ one - which is only visible to adoring female eyes!
 
The Misplaced Goddess
When the revealingly-dressed statue of the Goddess of Love and Potency goes missing, two sham priests and two lecherous pilgrims frantically take turns posing as the statue to avoid being accused of stealing it. The shenanigans escalate into a riotous wild-goose chase - but there’s more to come! Soon, the Goddess herself appears….

Reviews
“A bawdy, delightful, laugh-a-minute outing. The Magic Fundoshi is a fine, and increasingly rare, celebration of pure, mindless comedy.” SPH - The Straits Times

“Highly entertaining, intelligent in its subtlety and hilarious in its high comic drama.” SPH - The Business Times

Background
The form of Japanese comedy known as Kyogen developed around 1400 as comic interludes between Noh dramas. These classical Japanese kyogen (literally ‘wild words’) provided a dazzling contrast and light-hearted relief from the bleak, slow-moving Noh plays; and to this day, kyogen still has Japanese audiences rolling in the aisles in laughter. Kyogen are delightfully everyday celebrations of human foibles; and lust, sloth, vanity and other human appetites are the stuff of which kyogen is made. The traditional kyogen repertoire features whimsical tales of the Everyman (and woman) – of servants outsmarting their masters and scheming tricksters getting into bizarre screw-ups - always playful, always mischievous, always hilarious.

In 1966, Donald Richie, one of the foremost Western authorities on Japanese culture, in particular theatre and cinema, wrote 3 plays which he labeled ‘modern kyogen’. He based these plays on his extensive knowledge and experience of the kyogen form, but made them more accessible to Western audiences by giving them a contemporary attitude and a playful respect for the foreign language – English – in which they are written. The first performance, in Japanese, premiered to great success in Tokyo in 1969.

In 1993, Glen Goei, as Artistic Director of Mu-Lan Theatre Company, brought the trilogy to the attention of the English-speaking world by staging the World Premiere of the English version in London. He christened this production “The Magic Fundoshi” (the title of the second play in the trilogy). The production was a huge success with audiences and critics alike, and won the London Sunday Times Award for Best Comedy that year. This production toured successfully to Singapore in 1994 and 1996. Donald Richie’s Three Modern Kyogen have since been staged in Japan, Australia and the USA.