2024年 09月 30日
Minimal attempt
The city is filled with noise, excessive advertising, development by large corporations, and pollution smog.
The audience passes through it to go to the theater.
We believe that at the very least, theaters need darkness.
As soon as the audience enters the Kiryukan's theater, they are faced with an unexpected space of pitch black. The audience is washed away with all the miscellaneous information they had beforehand, and their minds become blank.
After that silence, the audience and the work meet for the first time and appreciate the work.
Ideally, the audience should experience the work in a way similar to that of ancient humans.
If possible, it would be even more ideal if a maze could be created from the theater entrance to the audience seats, even if it is on a small scale.
While wandering through the dark maze, the audience can momentarily forget the excessive information implanted in them by capitalism and neoliberalism.
Harada had worked with a seasoned theater director once in the past, but the result was that everything turned out exactly as planned, and Harada was not satisfied.
Unexpected happenings are necessary here.
Harada believes that it is more effective to involve amateur staff.
In Horizon Blue (2019/Niigata), women who usually sell tickets backstage wandered around the theater wrapped in white cloths or collapsed on the floor.
They seemed to enjoy being able to take part in something they would not normally experience.
The audience, too, can experience a fresh surprise that they can only experience in the theater, not on the Internet or DVDs.
The audience passes through it to go to the theater.
However, since 1981, due to the influence of neoliberalism, cinema complexes now show 30 minutes of noisy commercials before the main screening. This numbs the audience's emotions. There is no way they can have a good experience with the movie in such an environment.
As soon as the audience enters the Kiryukan's theater, they are faced with an unexpected space of pitch black. The audience is washed away with all the miscellaneous information they had beforehand, and their minds become blank.
After that silence, the audience and the work meet for the first time and appreciate the work.
Ideally, the audience should experience the work in a way similar to that of ancient humans.
This theater idea is similar to the intention and structure of cave paintings on Earth from tens of thousands of years ago.
reference: Drawing in the depths: spatial organization patterns related to Magdalenian cave art
(The image is taken from the linked academic paper.)
While wandering through the dark maze, the audience can momentarily forget the excessive information implanted in them by capitalism and neoliberalism.
Harada had worked with a seasoned theater director once in the past, but the result was that everything turned out exactly as planned, and Harada was not satisfied.
Unexpected happenings are necessary here.
Harada believes that it is more effective to involve amateur staff.
In Horizon Blue (2019/Niigata), women who usually sell tickets backstage wandered around the theater wrapped in white cloths or collapsed on the floor.
They seemed to enjoy being able to take part in something they would not normally experience.
The audience, too, can experience a fresh surprise that they can only experience in the theater, not on the Internet or DVDs.
It is necessary to come up with some ingenuity, even if it is just one thing.
At the MIDORI (2004) Tokyo fantastic film festival, we had very little time to prepare, but we created as many unusual conditions as we could, including scattering paper in the toilets. While the audience was entering, 35mm slide photos of MIDORI's Japanese monsters were projected on a dark screen by a small projector. All of this was done by volunteers on the day.
Photo by Mako Sakura
Toilet paper and small items from 100-yen shops were also used in Horizon Blue (2019/Kanazawa Film Festival in Niigata).
Harada first started using toilet paper and other items to shorten preparation time in 2004 for "Trench Garden" at Shibuya Uplink.
The thin, white toilet paper flickered with the help of an electric fan and transformed into a mysterious object with the help of lighting.
Moreover, Harada noticed something at the MIDORI screening site at the Kanazawa Film Festival in recent years.
At first, Harada felt sorry for the audience because the preparation work always took longer than expected, and the entry time was more than 30 minutes later than scheduled.
However, since Kiryukan has recently become known for doing mysterious things, the audience enjoyed the wait. They positively accepted the idea that "the staff is planning something special, something different from usual, in the theater."
As I've mentioned before on this blog, Harada originally thought that the gimmicks during MIDORI screenings should be carried out by staff in hiding.
However, with the short preparation time available these days, it is difficult to add various gimmicks to a regular cinema, as other films are screened before and after MIDORI.
So at the 2020 screening of MIDORI in Nagoya, staff scattered cherry blossom storms around the audience seats with their faces and figures exposed.
The audience was instead delighted by the hard work of these non-automated staff, who performed a truly physical labor-intensive job.
Harada realized, "I see, so that's one way to interpret it."
Harada first started using toilet paper and other items to shorten preparation time in 2004 for "Trench Garden" at Shibuya Uplink.
The thin, white toilet paper flickered with the help of an electric fan and transformed into a mysterious object with the help of lighting.
Moreover, Harada noticed something at the MIDORI screening site at the Kanazawa Film Festival in recent years.
At first, Harada felt sorry for the audience because the preparation work always took longer than expected, and the entry time was more than 30 minutes later than scheduled.
However, since Kiryukan has recently become known for doing mysterious things, the audience enjoyed the wait. They positively accepted the idea that "the staff is planning something special, something different from usual, in the theater."
As I've mentioned before on this blog, Harada originally thought that the gimmicks during MIDORI screenings should be carried out by staff in hiding.
However, with the short preparation time available these days, it is difficult to add various gimmicks to a regular cinema, as other films are screened before and after MIDORI.
So at the 2020 screening of MIDORI in Nagoya, staff scattered cherry blossom storms around the audience seats with their faces and figures exposed.
The audience was instead delighted by the hard work of these non-automated staff, who performed a truly physical labor-intensive job.
Harada realized, "I see, so that's one way to interpret it."
"MIDORI" Nagoya Cinema skhole in 2020.
A photo of the staff taken by the theater manager. All of the staff are amateur volunteers with no connection to stage performances. (Harada is in the center of the front row.)
by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-09-30 20:17
| 劇場思想 Theater thought
