Mermaid
Blood
For Sound Theatre
Total Branding, Graphic Design, Scenic Design
Mermaid Blood", the third portion of the new music reading theatre Sound Theatre, was staged at Mitsui Hall, Tokyo, in June 2012. The sound theatre is a completely new style of performance (reading theatre) that stimulates our five senses by combining music, scent and readings.
As the artistic director, Konoe designed the stage set, and was involved in the original story from the conception stage. He also showed his skills in the direction of the production by inviting the young master of the Shino school of kodo, Sobhikku Hachiya, to appear on stage and casting Yutaka Fukuoka as music director.
He also created the logo, designed the flyers and supervised the pamphlet. Kumiko Hitomi was appointed as pamphlet designer.
The overall vision shared by the creators of 'Mermaid Blood' was: a fantasy that alternates between the Heian period and the present day.
'Mermaids' and the concept of 'the dead coming back to life' could be associated with the occult and horror genre, but we hope to keep it stylish and entertaining. We want to make sure there's beauty in the horror!
In order to provide a deeper understanding of the historical background, Konoe explains what the late Heian period was like, interweaving the stories of Konoe's ancestors, Tadamichi Fujiwara and Motomitsu Konoe.
The cast includes Koichi Yamadera, Hiroshi Ienaka, Park Rumi, Yutaka Fukuoka, Rihiko Yokogawa, Naosaburo Miho and Souhitsu Hachiya. Fukuoka Yutaka as the musical director, and Hachiya Souhitsu as scent supervisor.
Sound theatre is fundamentally a recitation theatre, so the ultimate goal is to create each stage in the audience's imagination by integrating 'scent', 'music' and 'words' under the theme of 'an invisible stage that emerges in the mind'. Special attention was paid to the layout of the stage, which is the receptacle for all the elements.
First layout
We rented a large warehouse and went through a lot of trial and error with the actual size of the stage set to see how it would actually look.
Stage set for the production of Mermaid Blood at the Mitsui Hall.
Mermaid Blood began with sketches, then a warehouse simulation and finally the actual installation at the Mitsui Hall. The stage curtain rises, the lights flicker and the story begins. The story proceeds against a backdrop of red and blue lines of arteries and veins, symbolizing life and death...
The official website for Mermaid Blood, designed by Konoe, is still available on the official website. Why not take this opportunity to take a look?
Mermaid Blood official website