Dum spiro spero
About Japanese voice actors and stage reading plays. (I like seiyuu, and I like a good story no matter what form they take.)
Reading High is a series of stage reading plays written by playwright Fujisawa Bunou and performed by voice actors on stage, combined with live music, sound effects, a stage set, costumes, lighting and special effects.
In a stage reading play, the actors stand in front of the microphone with their play script, and they perform with their voice, expression and gesture alone -- similar to what seiyuu do when they are voicing for anime and doing Japanese dubbing, etc. Seiyuu usually work behind the scene, so a stage reading play gives the audience an opportunity to truly appreciate the kind of work that seiyuu do.
The reading plays of Reading High feature the kinds of themes I'm fond of: ghost ship, alchemy, a pact with the devil, a mixture of real life history and fiction, etc. They were able to stage an epic sea battle between the pirates and the British navy in El Galleon that could rival the ones in Pirates of the Caribbean -- in my humble opinion at any rate. It helps that Blackbeard is played by Ohtsuka Akio, who also plays the devil in Chevre Note, a play that reimagines the legend of Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais plus a large serving of a deal with the devil.
Sawashiro Miyuki plays Jeanne in Chevre Note. Gilles de Rais is played by my favourite seiyuu, Nakamura Yuuichi. He was really, really good in Chevre Note. He also plays William Kidd in El Galleon.
(An aside: I cried so much when I watched Chevre Note and El Galleon.)
They held the one-night-only Alchemist Renatus ~Homunculus~ at Budokan last December, which is a first for any stage reading play. (Budokan is the pinnacle of the Japanese entertainment scene. Lots of young musicians and bands in Japan aspire to perform in Budokan someday.) And yes, Nakamura Yuuichi is in this one as well.
Hypnagogia and Thanatos are a bit different. These two are chamber stage reading plays with a small cast (3 people). Hypnagogia is the story of a nameless pianist whose sudden burst of genius and fame is accompanied by a sudden failing of his health, and his talent might or might not have something to do with the mysterious woman he meets in his dream. This play has the benefit of being performed by veteran seiyuu Yamadera Kouichi, Hayashibara Megumi and the aforementioned Ohtsuka Akio.
Meanwhile, Thanatos is a psychological suspense about a psychologist and a detective inspector at Scotland Yard trying to unravel the mystery behind the London Ghost Ship incident through the lost memory of the sole survivor of the incident. This play features a younger cast: Umehara Yuuichirou, Hayami Saori and the double casting of Suzuki Tatsuhisa and Fukuyama Jun. While I haven't watched either of these two plays, I don't doubt that they were good.
Crossposted from https://lee-bella.dreamwidth.org/785727.html.
Reading High is a series of stage reading plays written by playwright Fujisawa Bunou and performed by voice actors on stage, combined with live music, sound effects, a stage set, costumes, lighting and special effects.
In a stage reading play, the actors stand in front of the microphone with their play script, and they perform with their voice, expression and gesture alone -- similar to what seiyuu do when they are voicing for anime and doing Japanese dubbing, etc. Seiyuu usually work behind the scene, so a stage reading play gives the audience an opportunity to truly appreciate the kind of work that seiyuu do.
The reading plays of Reading High feature the kinds of themes I'm fond of: ghost ship, alchemy, a pact with the devil, a mixture of real life history and fiction, etc. They were able to stage an epic sea battle between the pirates and the British navy in El Galleon that could rival the ones in Pirates of the Caribbean -- in my humble opinion at any rate. It helps that Blackbeard is played by Ohtsuka Akio, who also plays the devil in Chevre Note, a play that reimagines the legend of Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais plus a large serving of a deal with the devil.
Sawashiro Miyuki plays Jeanne in Chevre Note. Gilles de Rais is played by my favourite seiyuu, Nakamura Yuuichi. He was really, really good in Chevre Note. He also plays William Kidd in El Galleon.
(An aside: I cried so much when I watched Chevre Note and El Galleon.)
They held the one-night-only Alchemist Renatus ~Homunculus~ at Budokan last December, which is a first for any stage reading play. (Budokan is the pinnacle of the Japanese entertainment scene. Lots of young musicians and bands in Japan aspire to perform in Budokan someday.) And yes, Nakamura Yuuichi is in this one as well.
Hypnagogia and Thanatos are a bit different. These two are chamber stage reading plays with a small cast (3 people). Hypnagogia is the story of a nameless pianist whose sudden burst of genius and fame is accompanied by a sudden failing of his health, and his talent might or might not have something to do with the mysterious woman he meets in his dream. This play has the benefit of being performed by veteran seiyuu Yamadera Kouichi, Hayashibara Megumi and the aforementioned Ohtsuka Akio.
Meanwhile, Thanatos is a psychological suspense about a psychologist and a detective inspector at Scotland Yard trying to unravel the mystery behind the London Ghost Ship incident through the lost memory of the sole survivor of the incident. This play features a younger cast: Umehara Yuuichirou, Hayami Saori and the double casting of Suzuki Tatsuhisa and Fukuyama Jun. While I haven't watched either of these two plays, I don't doubt that they were good.
Crossposted from https://lee-bella.dreamwidth.org/785727.html.