Narukami, or The Thunder God (1684)
by Ichikawa Danjuro I
Performed by Eric Murdoch, I.B. White, Brian Wallace and Tina Chilip. Recorded December 15, 2009.
The Play
Commentary
Outtakes
About Ichikawa Danjuro I
Ichikawa Danjuro I (1660-1704) was one of the most influential Kabuki actors and playwrights of all time, and the founder of two famous acting dynasties, the Ebizo and Danjuro. Each line has seen a succession of actors perform under its respective name since 1673.
Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Danjuro first took to the stage at the age of 13. He pioneered the "aragoto," or rough style, of kabuki acting, which favored bombastic, exaggerated movement, costume, and speech over more realistic drama. Danjuro also originated the characteristic red, blue, and black-striped makeup worn by actors of this style. A devout Buddhist, he was the first to portray one of Japan's 13 Buddhas onstage, and also founded an actors guild.
As a playwright, he composed under the name Mimasuya Hyogo. He was the first to kabuki actor to adopt a writing pseudonym (known in Japan as a "poetry name"). Whether his plays were strong on their own merits or bolstered by his immense popularity as an actor, they became tremendously successful and remain classics of the Kabuki theater.
Ichikawa Danjuro I was stabbed and killed onstage by a fellow actor during a performance on February 19, 1704.
The Company, In Order of Appearance
eric murdoch is an actor in new york city. he is currently working on a production of "three sisters" directed by anna brenner. he holds an mfa from the brown/trinity consortium. eric is a canadian and he has been in three episodes of the lost plays podcast. big thanks to brian and ian!
I.B. White appears occasionally in the long-running off-Broadway show My First Time. He was recently seen in the award-winning short film "Numskull", featured during the series premiere of NBC's Knight Rider. Ian played Tim in the West Coast leg of the Old Globe/Roundabout coproduction of Greg Kotis' Pig Farm, and has performed in readings and workshops at the Public Theater, the Huntington Theater, Soho Rep, New Georges, and the Lark Play Development Center. He is an MFA graduate of the Brown/Trinity Consortium. 
Brian Wallace recently portrayed Gooper in the sold-out run of Cat on A Hot Tin Roof at Arkansas Rep, and was part of the original cast of the Pulitzer-nominated hit The Good Negro at the Public Theater and Dallas Theater Center, as well as Jonathan Leaf's The Caterers, a part for which he was nominated for a New York Innovative Theater Award. Regional credits include productions at Capital Repertory Theater, the Berkshire Theater Festival, Lake George Dinner Theater, Stamford Center for the Arts, Verse Theater Manhattan, and Trinity Rep. A generous tipper, attentive lover, and frequent litterbug, Brian is also the co-creator of LostPlays.com along with I.B. White. Website: www.bri-curious.com 
Off Broadway: Joy Luck Club (Pan Asian Rep). Other NY credits include: Sweet Karma (Immigrants' Theatre Project); For Want of A Shoe (Manhattan Theatre Source). Regional: Yellow Face (TheatreWorks); After The War (American Conservatory Theatre); A Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet (Trinity Repertory Company); Hamlet, 1001 Arabian Nights (Marin Shakespeare Company); Far East (TheatreWorks). International: Golden Child (Cultural Center of the Philippines). MFA: Brown/Trinity Consortium.