Have a good look - stop the breath, peel off the skin, and everybody ends up looking the same. No matter how long you live, the result is not altered. Cast off the notion that “I exist.” Entrust yourself to the windblown clouds, and do not wish to live forever. ~Ikkyu

World Premiere at San Francisco International Arts Festival
May 27th – 30th, 2010, Z Space @ Theater Artaud

Produced and Presented by: inkBoat, U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network and San Francisco International Arts Festival
Co-Directors: Shinichi Iova-Koga and Ko Murobushi
Performed by: Dana Iova-Koga, Ko Murobushi, Shinichi Iova-Koga, and Sherwood Chen
Composers: Shahzad Ali Ismaily, Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi
Song by Burt Bacharach, sung by Tom Jones
Lighting Design: Allen Willner
Costume Design: Currie Leggoe & inkBoat
Props and Installation: Frank Lee (with assistance from Saara Reidsama and Catherine Reser)

Ikkyu (1394-1481), is considered one of the most significant and eccentric figures in Zen Buddhism. The facts of his life have perhaps morphed into myth, but he remains a folk hero to many. He is renowned and respected for his irreverent and straightforward insights into life and the human experience. Ikkyu’s life and work was filled with contradictions, shining examples of the paradox that is Zen. Master of poetry, calligraphy and music, as well as vagabond and patron of brothels and bars, he was immersed in both “high” and “low” culture. He was sharply critical of formalistic religion and the false piety he perceived in the Buddhism of his time, yet reached a position of high stature in Daitoku-ji, a prestigious temple in Kyoto. In this man, polarities collided- the refined and the crass, the frank and the esoteric. His name roughly translates into “One Pause” signifying his moment of enlightenment that fell in the space between two crow calls. In contrast to this name, which conjures images of peace, is Ikkyu’s nickname, Crazy Cloud.