THE鍵KEY: World premiere
The highly anticipated premiere at the traditional-style residence, Nakacho House, Tokyo.
An immersive experience
Discoveries made through the R&D went on to shape the development of the opera and the feedback received influenced the resulting shape of the performances. It became clear that the way the audience enter the house, and therefore the performance, is of great importance. This led to the decision to arrange a separate space for the audience to gather pre-performance before staff lead them across to the venue.
On arriving at the venue, the audience saw the wife character about to open the front door. Before entering the house she gave a short monologue, as if to herself, which served as a hint-giving introduction for the audience. The audience were then encouraged by the staff to follow the wife as she went inside the house. The double bass played an introductory theme on repeat as the wife and audience entered the house, allowing the audience to smoothly enter the immersive performance. Feedback post-performance showed that having a character lead the audience into the house was highly effective; audience members commented that it really set the scene and drew them into the private world of THE鍵KEY.
Audience feedback
Fantastic! Beautiful! Amazing!
Good use of sound effects such as the heart beat and breathing sounds. It was also good how wherever you were, the sound from other places would leak through
I enjoyed being completely immersed in the performance
Tokyo 2018: World premiere
Performances: Saturday 19th May 2018, 12:30pm & 3.30pm
Venue: Nakacho House, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Staged by: ‘Kagi’ Project Executive Committee
Supported by: The Mutomai Fund for Music Creation, Education and Research
Donators to our successful Kickstarter campaign
Cooperation: Arts Access “Otomachi”, Whole Hog Theatre and Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Performers
The Husband Trio
The Husband: Takashi Matsudaira (baritone)
Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute): Jin Rei
Double bass: Yukiko Siina
The Wife Trio
The Wife: Akane Kudo (soprano)
Sho (Japanese mouth organ): Atsumi Kojima
Cello: Yuri Kubota
The Daughter Trio
The Daughter: Yu Igarashi (mezzo-soprano)
Kotsutsumi and shimedaiko (Japanese percussion): Mikako Ogawa
Violin: Kyouju Hayakawa
Kimura trio
Kimura: Rikki Metsugi (dancer)
Biwa (Japanese lute): Kumiko Shuto
Clarinet: Hiroko Miyake
Team
Composer and director: Francesca Le Lohé
Producer: Naoya Yamashita
Choreography and dramaturg: Alexandra Rutter (Whole Hog Theatre)
Choreography: Kae Ishimoto
Japanese libretto check: Kazui Yabe
Flyer design: Sonia Friel
Venue director and photography: Takeshi Yoshida
Videography: Shun Onozawa
Photography: Kohei Usuda
Special thanks:
Headline Sponsor of the THE鍵KEY Tokyo Premiere
Gavin Osborn
Patron of THE鍵KEY
Anonymous
Associates of THE鍵KEY
NPO Kokoro Talk Music Representative Director Miyuki Nakai
Junko Kono
Friends of THE鍵KEY
Sawako Tamaru
Mark Choi
Anonymous
Pira Pewnim
Curtis B. Edmundson
Cooperation
Art Access ‘Otomachi’
Art Access ‘Otomachi’ manage the venue Nakacho House. Established in 2012 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the
creation of the Adachi Ward, ‘Otomachi’ produces new art-based
projects which promote communication and engagement with the
people of Adachi ward. ‘Otomachi’ regularly collaborates with the
Tokyo Arts Council and Tokyo University of the Arts. THE鍵KEY operated as a pilot program of Art Access ‘Otomachi’.
Whole Hog Theatre
Whole Hog Theatre is an award-winning UK company and
creative collective for emerging creating eclectic adaptations
that encourage diversity and new audiences to the theatre.
Staging the “unstageable” since 2011, the company specialises in
adaptation, working with emerging artists, creating productions
using recycled materials and facilitating Anglo-Japanese
projects. In 2013, Whole Hog Theatre staged the world’s first
theatrical adaptation of Princess Mononoke with the kind
permission of Studio Ghibli. Wishing to build on their success
with Tristan and Isolde and due to the project’s aim of
promoting Anglo-Japanese exchange, Whole Hog Theatre is
excited to support this project with production assistance.
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is a UK charity,
established in 1988 with a generous benefaction from Daiwa
Securities Co Ltd. The Foundation’s purpose is to support
closer links between Britain and Japan.