Getting Real with Tomáš Kubínek

Getting Real with Tomáš Kubínek

Tomáš Kubínek

Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible

Leeward Community College Theatre

Sunday, February 10; 2pm

Tickets at outreach.hawaii.edu/community

Tomáš Kubínek was born in Prague. When Kubínek was just 3 years old, his family smuggled him to safety as they escaped the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Kubínek family spent two months in Austria in a refugee camp before they were granted sanctuary in Canada. That's where Tomáš became avidly fascinated with clowns, circus, theater, and magic.

Kubínek is notorious for his eccentric personality and all around humorous soul. Let's find out a little more about the man behind the Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible.

UH Presents: 
What were you like in High School?

Kubínek:

Like a speeding bullet... I crammed my courses, graduated at 16, went to college for theater, dropped out after a year at 17 and started performing full time.

UH Presents: 

Tell us something about Prague, your birth place that we might not know.

Kubínek:

A hotbed for alchemists during the renaissance, amazing architecture and history, great food, beer, music and theater. Similarities to Paris but more soul and light and less arrogance. Prague was at one time the cultural center of Europe and has one of the oldest continuously operating Universities in the world since 1348. It is the capital of Bohemia and that officially makes me a Bohemian!

UH Presents: 

What is the first thing you want to do when you arrive in Hawaii?

Kubínek:

I wish to cast off my luggage and winter clothes as i race towards the water and plunge in. I am looking forward to returning to Hawaii so much. After my tour i'm taking a week off in the islands and then flying to Canada's Yukon to 40 below weather and a week of touring up there. I'm looking forward to that as well!

UH Presents: 

Having travelled all over the world to perform your one-man show, what do you think is the common thread in comedy that connects all of your diverse audience?

Kubínek:

I think that one element that ties us humans together is that in our development we learned a lot through play - playing and being irreverent and courting a certain element of anarchy as we were and are socialized. That joyous element of mischief and irreverence is understood around the world and is key in certain aspects of humor.

UH Presents: 

Share an embarrassing moment during one of your performances.

Kubínek:

When I was a teen and didn't have a driver's license yet I would travel by bus and by hitchhiking to do little performances in communities. Once I got the name of the town wrong and took a bus 3 hours in the wrong direction to a similar sounding town and I totally missed the show. I made it up to them a few months later.

UH Presents: 
You have engaged in master-classes with many universities and correctional facilities. Any lessons learned from the prisons?

Kubínek:
From my visits to prisons I've learned to have more compassion and less judgement for people in general. I try to keep reminding myself of that approach to seeing things.

UH Presents: 

What is bad comedy?

Kubínek:

I don't know, I try to only practice the good kind! (i.e. tune into that funny place, get everybody laughing, and do it with love...)

UH Presents: 

What is your favorite dessert?

Kubínek:

I've been laying off of sugar for the last year but I love many desserts - black forest cake, cheesecake, a fine Tiramisu in Italy, a special kind of ice-cream in a dumpling pouch from Japan. Various flavors of ice-cream. Dark chocolate. Hazelnut chocolate ice-cream. Czech dumplings with fruit and melted butter... I love desserts but now just dream of them most of the time...

UH Presents: 

Share a funny thought.

Kubínek:
Recently near my little village I drove past a parked police cruiser facing the road and sitting alone in the driver's seat looking out at traffic was a german shepherd. Without really thinking I thought - "Geez they're replacing people everywhere just to cut costs..."

Here’s a preview of Kubínekʻs performance.

Don't hesitate to visit http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/community/ and purchase your tickets. Come have a wonderful time and a good laugh with us on February 10, 2019 at the Leeward Community College Theatre at 2pm or you can call us at (808) 956-8246.

Selected Resources on Noh at UH Manoa

Want to prep yourself for the Noh performance at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Orvis Auditorium this Saturday, February 7 at 7:30pm? Librarian Tokiko Bazzell with the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Asia Collection Department gathered these Noh resources that are available through the University of Hawai‘i library system.

Selected Resources on Noh

as collected by 

Tokiko Bazzell
Asia Collection Department, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Guides/Introductions

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=853568

Author: O'Neill, P. G. (Patrick Geoffrey), 1924-

Title: A guide to Nō

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3331344

Author: Maruoka, Daiji, 1913-

Title: Noh

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=614038

Title: Essays on Noh and Kyogen and two new translations / James R. Brandon ... [and others].

Variant Title: Noh & kyōgen (including “Noh masks”)

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1925796

Title: Nōh and Kyōgen : an interpretive guide

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1598086

Author: Keene, Donald.

Title: Nō ; and, Bunraku : two forms of Japanese theatre

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=129693

Author: Keene, Donald.

Title: Nō; the classical theatre of Japan

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1366277

 Author: Konparu, Kunio, 1926-

 Title: The noh theater : principles and perspectives

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2349960

Author: Rath, Eric C., 1967-

Title: The ethos of Noh : actors and their art

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1433742

Author: Shimazaki, Chifumi, 1910-

Title: The Noh (include general information about Noh)

Noh Masks

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3198470

Author: Udaka, Michishige.

Title: The secrets of noh masks

Zeami

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2466275

Author: Quinn, Shelley Fenno.

Title: Developing Zeami : the Noh actor's attunement in practice

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2248674

Author: Terasaki, Etsuko.

Title: Figures of desire : wordplay, spirit possession, fantasy, madness, and mourning in Japanese noh plays

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=992869

Author: Elzey, John M.

Title: Structure and imagery in the Noh Plays of Zeami Motokiyo

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1263355

Author: Zeami, 1363-1443.

Title: On the art of the nō drama : the major treatises of Zeami ; translated by J. Thomas Rimer, Yamazaki Masakazu

Kiyotsune

·       https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=437173

Author: Yamamoto, Jirō, 1910-

Title: Nō jōruri kabuki / Yamamoto Jirō, Tokue Gensei hen.

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1423663

Author: Reiter, Seymour.

Title: World theater; the structure and meaning of drama (inside Zeami's Kiyotsun is described)

·      https://uhmanoa.lib.hawaii.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=8212
Sound Recording (Phonodisc) @ Sinclair Wong A/V
Title: Kiyotsune / ji Kondō Kennosuke, Tosaka Takeo [sound recording]

·      Web site on Kiyotsune play with bilingual story plot

http://www.the-noh.com/en/plays/data/program_020.html

·      “A Study of Life and Death in Noh Play Kiyotsune” (research paper on Kiyotsune)
http://atlantic.gssc.nihon-u.ac.jp/~ISHCC/bulletin/05/5017.pdf

Opportunity to see Noh masters perform in Honolulu

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Outreach College Presents

The Samurai Warrior on the Noh Stage

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Orvis Auditorium

Saturday, February 7, 2015 • 7:30pm

Two of the most respected young Noh actors, Munenori and Fumiyuki Takeda, present excerpts of the warrior play Kiyotsune.  Written by Zeami (1363-1443), who is considered the foremost writer of Noh, Kiyotsune tells a tale of Taira no Kiyotsune.  Distraught to be on the losing side of the Gempei War, Kiyotsune commits suicide.  He returns, in ghost form, to his wife who is distraught that he failed keep his promise to return to her.  The two share their longing and vent their resentments.  Kiyotsune recounts his final days and existence in hell until his prayers release him and he enters the Western Paradise of Amida Buddha.    

About the artists

Munenori Takeda has performed on the Noh stage since the age of two.  He is part of a prestigious family of Noh actors belonging to the Kanze school of Noh, which traces its roots to the 1300s. Munenori's father, grandfather, and several of his uncles are all certified as "Living National Treasures" in Japan.  He is active in promoting Noh for the young and for wider audiences, giving workshops, seminars, and performances involving audience participation. His magnetic stage presence has won him fans well beyond the confines of the Noh world, and he is widely recognized as one of the most talented young Noh performers.

Cousin to Munenori, Fumiyuki Takeda first took the stage at age three.  His father is also a “Living National Treasure” and a major figure in the Kanze School of Noh Theater.  In 2008, Fumiyuki and fellow Noh performers born in 1977 formed the “Nanaju Nana Nen Kai” (literally, the ‘1977 Club’). The group has given many performances and workshops, gaining wide popularity.

Tickets are available: on line at www.outreach.hawaii.edu/community, by phone at 944-2697, or at the Stan Sheriff Center and UH Mānoa Campus Center box offices.  Service charges apply.  Advance sales end at midnight the day prior to the performance. At the door sales begin 1 hour before performance begins.  For more information, call 956-8246.

Presented by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Outreach College in association with the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Theatre & Dance and Music Departments, Maui Arts & Cultural Center and the Performing Arts Presenters of Hawaii.  Supported in part by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

"Robots in Hawaii" Art Contest Winners

What would Robots in Hawaii look like?

Here are some winning depictions.

by Ayden Sato

Enchanted Lake Elementary - Grade:3

by Ikaika C.V.A. Crookes

Noelani Elementary - Grade:5

 by Charlie Matsumoto

Mililani Ike Elementary - Grade:5

 by Rachelle Marie Lariba

Kapolei Middle - Grade:8

Art contest entry drop off locations

Art contest entries can be dropped off at UH Manoa Outreach College Sinclair Library Room 301, Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm.  Entries can also be dropped off at the following Oahu Public Libraries.  Please check the Hawaii State Public Library System website for updated hours of operation.

Deadline to turn in your entry is Friday, December 6, 2013.

Intergalactic Nemesis Art Contest

 

Students, from second grade through college!  Here's your chance to win tickets to Intergalactic Nemesis Book 2: Robot Planet Rising.  It's a live-action graphic novel being performed at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Kennedy Theatre on Sunday, January 19, 2014. 

Here's what you have to do. 

- On an 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper, draw your idea of “Robots in Hawaii.” Artwork must be original. (No cutting and pasting.)

- Print your name and grade level on the back of the drawing

- Staple a completed entry form to the drawing.  (Forms can be downloaded from HERE.)

 - Submit your drawing and entry form to a participating Oahu public library by December 6, 2013.

The artwork will be judged on:

 - Creativity

 - Originality

 - Use of theme

One winner will be chosen in each of the following categories:

 - Grades 2 - 3

 - Grades 4 - 5

 - Grades 6 - 8

 - Grades 9 - 12

 - College

Winners will be notified by December 23, 2013. Judges decisions are final.  Each winner will receive 2 tickets to the Intergalactic Nemesis, Book Two: Robot Planet Rising performance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Kennedy Theatre on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

By submitting an entry, you grant UHM Outreach College permission and full rights to display you artwork.  The University is not responsible for lost or damaged artwork.

Intergalactic Nemesis Book Two poster

Intergalactic Nemesis Book 2 Show Information

EVENT NAME:  THE INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS Live-Action Graphic Novel Book Two: Robot Planet Rising

VENUE: UHM Kennedy Theatre, 1770 East-West Rd. Honolulu, HI 96822  

EVENT TYPE: Theatre

DATES/TIMES: Sunday, January 19, 2014; 2:00pm

DESCRIPTION: THEY'RE BACK!!! Last season we presented a whole new form of theatre, the Live-Action Graphic Novel, with The Intergalactic Nemesis, Book One: Target Earth. Now, that production is in the midst of a multi-year world tour. They've been featured on NPR and CONAN. So it is with extreme pride that we present the sequel.

Just like for Book One, the creators have taken the artwork from an original comic-book story, removed the word balloons, and then project that art panel-by-panel on our two-story-high video screen while three actors voice all the characters, one performer creates all the sound-effects, and a keyboardist performs the score. LIVE.

This time Molly Sloan must rescue robot emissary Elbee-Dee-Oh who is lost in deep space, her former fiancé Dr. Lawrence Webster has miraculously arrived on Robonovia, the Cerebretron is malfunctioning, Timmy has only just begun to master his telekinetic powers and much more! For the kid in everyone!

TICKETS: Tickets are available on line at www.etickethawaii.com, by phone at 944-2697, or visit any UH Ticket outlet (Stan Sheriff Center and the UH Mānoa Campus Center ticket office). Service charges apply. Advance sales end at midnight the day prior to the performance. At the door sales begin 1 hour before performance begins.

PHONE: 956-8246
EMAIL: csinfo@hawaii.edu 
WEBSITE: www.hawaii.edu/outreach/community 
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/UHManoaPresents
TWITTER: @UHManoaPresents

A production of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Outreach College. Part of a Performing Arts Presenters of Hawaii tour. Partial funding provided by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Western States Arts Federation.

Art Contest Honorable Mentions

by Ikaika Crookes, Noelani Elementary

 By Aiden Bowie, Noelani Elementary

by Iain Bowie Alastar, Noelani Elementary

by Erina Miyazako, Mid Pacific Institute

Art Contest Winners

What would an alien's holiday vacation in Hawaii look like?  Here are some winning depictions.

by Ariella Jackson, Ma`ema`e Elementary

 by Nani Jackson, Ma`ema`e Elementary

by Bridget O'Connor, Mid Pacific Institute