NEW YORK -- In the Japan Society's latest cross-cultural experiment, the subtlety and spirituality of Japanese noh drama was played off the stirring pace of Kurt Weill's opera.

Presented here last week, Weill's opera "Der Jasager" (performed in its English translation, "The Consenter") was staged back-to-back with Komparu Zenchiku's 15th-century play "Taniko (The Valley Rite)," performed by the Nohgakuza troupe and led by Hideo Kanze, Rokuro Umewaka and Kan Hosho, a Living National Treasure.

Co-written by Bertolt Brecht and his assistant Elisabeth Hauptmann, "Der Jasager" is based on a 1921 translation of "Taniko," which failed to include the second act. As a result, the plot and characterization of both works runs parallel for the first half, aside from one major difference: Brecht secularized his version so that the pilgrimage becomes an arduous journey, the yamabushi (mountain priest) leader becomes a schoolteacher and his disciples become students.

In the second half, however, the two works diverge. In "Taniko," the custom of hurling sick pilgrims into the valley is carried out when the main character, a young boy, falls ill. Yet, due to the boy's outstanding character and devotion to his mother, for whom he set out on the pilgrimage in the first place, he is ultimately resuscitated by the spirit Gigaku.

In "The Consenter," directed by Jonathan Eaton, the boy is asked whether or not he agrees with the "great custom." After he responds, "I understand," he is hurled into the valley and left to die. Yet, in this version of the opera, an apotheosis occurs whereby the boy, or his angelic spirit, miraculously reappears at the end of the performance.

The differences between the two works became truly distinct in performance. Through the nuanced yet powerful gestures of the noh performers, we understand that the yamabushi are truly distraught at having carried out the "great custom." As a result of their profound sadness, they decide to pray to their founder En no Gyoja (Kanze), who summons Gigaku (Rokuro) to bring the boy back to life.

In "The Consenter," the three students (Gary Seydell, Brian Downen and Sean David Cooper) who accompany the teacher (David Malis) and the young boy (Zachary Eden Bernhard) display no remorse at having followed the "great custom." On the contrary, their smug, self-satisfied expressions mark them as nothing more than bullies. Furthermore, their teacher's inability to stop the murder makes him a complicit onlooker.

Indeed, the supposedly "Asian" theme of subsuming oneself for the sake of the group and the horrific results -- ijime (bullying) and even death -- is shown, through Eaton's version, to have equal pertinence in the West. Eaton said he believes the play is relevant to us today, especially given the inordinate number of cases of school violence. "In particular," he said, "it deals with issues of peer pressure, and whether or not individuals acquiesce or consent to community pressure, custom or political correctness."

"Taniko" is rarely staged because of the large cast (during the final scene, 21 performers are onstage), according to Kanze, who has previously directed "Taniko" and "Der Jasager" together in Tokyo. (Kanze has also directed "Der Jasager" with its counterpart, the nonoperatic "Der Neinsager [He Who Says No]," which Brecht wrote in response to the controversial reaction "Der Jasager" received.)

Nohgakuza wisely chose not to attempt to re-create a hashigakari noh stage. Though this special stage, which includes four pillars and pine trees, enables the masked principle character to get his bearings, the performers worked beautifully with the existing space.

Following this minimalist production, "The Consenter," with its bold music, colorful set and zany costumes, proved to be a delightful contrast.

Breaking with the original staging of Brecht and Weill, the chorus manipulated two dozen wooden boxes of various sizes to create different structures: the boy's house, the forest and the valley. The students, boy and teacher did a stellar job negotiating the precarious set, often jumping up and down and straddling the boxes to create a wonderful sense of verticality.

Conductor Julius Rudel was awarded the Kurt Weill Foundation's highest artistic honor after the opening night performance, a distinct honor since this year Weill's centenary is being celebrated worldwide.

Many of the artists, including Eaton and Kanze, had collaborated in 1997 for the Japan Society's production of Kanze Motomasa's "Sumidagawa" and Benjamin Britten's "Curlew River." At an opening night reception for "Taniko" and "The Consenter," Japan Society President William Clark Jr. turned to Kanze and joked, "If you come back again, we're going to have to start a Kanze Society."

Those of us in the audience certainly hope to see him, and the rest of the Nohgakuza, in New York again.