Though not as visible as kabuki, kyogen — literally "crazy words" in Japanese — is a comedic theater form that has survived the past 600 years because of its simplicity and flexibility. It's widely adapted by contemporary artists, with a four-play bill debuting tonight at Kennedy Theatre.

"It may be very simple in terms of production, because the stage is often bare. But it doesn't make it easy," said Julie A. Iezzi, an authority in kyogen who studied with the masters in Japan, and who translated and directed the selected works.

"The weight is on the actors to carry the play through; while most kyogen don't use instrumental music, they often have songs. We have one piece that does and we use these rhythms to communicate and make the people laugh."

The hahas set the pace, Iezzi said.

"The main ingredient is laughter. It's not always a big guffaw kind of laughter, but a range — a sense of harmony and joy prevails, and you may grin with delight, or snicker, and sometimes there will be slapstick."

Iezzi sought fresh stories, commonly embracing realistic gaffes about human nature, for "Kyogen," as the fare is billed.

"I selected works that are not widely known, simply because there are a few kyogen works that are played over and over and over, often translated by 12 different people, with the ubiquitous servant common in many kyogen plays," she said.

"I wanted to introduce plays that would show the breadth of kyogen. And with my interest in songs and music of Japan, I chose plays that have lots of songs in them (one piece does not)."

Iezzi earned a bachelor's degree in Japanese education and spent 12 years in Japan (including six years in Kyoto), intending to learn the language and history of the Land of the Rising Sun. She also studied the koto and shamisen and was intrigued by the musical language, rhythms she now places in her kyogen works.

Along the way, she was introduced to Shigeyama Sennojo, the father and grandfather of two kyogen masters who came to Hawai'i to help train her cast of 21 for the "Kyogen" plays.

"That was my initial brush with kyogen, my brush with theater," she said. "Shigeyama is 83 and still performing and teaching in Japan."

The master teachers from Japan include Shigeyama Akira, the son of her first teacher; Shigeyama Doji, the master's grandson and son of Akira; and Maruishi Yasushi, a noted professional entertainer in Japan and a popular rakugo (comic monologues) storyteller.

Iezzi said kyogen has become a family-based art form, with the Shigeyamas typifying that tradition. The clan has yielded about 20 participants in the genre now, perpetuating the centuries-old theatrical form. "Many other families carry on the tradition," she said, "which is why kyogen is booming in Japan now, often sold out when staged, and increasingly attended by young people."

Kyogen has been accessible to Western audiences, too, not only because it's less formal than kabuki, but because most plays run anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, which makes it easier to digest. Further, archetypical characters dot the peoplescape — the nagging wife, the hen-pecked husband, the country bumpkin, the city slickers, the dimwit son, the carousing servant; "these are everyday folks people can relate to; there's no high-level entry to kyogen," said Iezzi.

There are other elements that draw audiences — masks for older characters, some demons, some deities.

Kyogen, Iezzi said, holds its own as one of four traditional Japanese genres of theater — alongside the grand and formal kabuki; noh, which traditionally seeks symbolic ideal beauty; and the puppet-dominated bunraku.

Her cast includes a diverse mix of local students, two from mainland China, two from Japan and several from the Mainland in a range of ages.

FOUR PLAYS IN ONE

Synopsis of the four "Kyogen" plays translated by director Julie A. Iezzi: