Technology and Interactivity in Modern/Post-Modern Japanese Theatre by Diana Lily Draker Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Vi
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Technology and Interactivity in Modern/Post-Modern Japanese Theatre by Diana Lily Draker Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, 2015 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies ©Diana Lily Draker, 2018 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Technology and Interactivity in Modern/Post-Modern Japanese Theatre by Diana Lily Draker Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, 2015 Supervisory Committee Dr. Cody Poulton, Supervisor Department of Pacific and Asian Studies Dr. Michael Bodden, Department Member Department of Pacific and Asian Studies iii Abstract Multimedia technology in theatre is nothing new, but various companies in modern and post- modern Japan, such as Dumb Type, Hatsune Miku, and the robot theatre of Oriza Hirata and Hiroshi Ishiguro, have been experimenting with mediatized technology. This thesis hones in on these Japanese multimedia theatres. It studies the origins of mediatization in theatre, looking at the impact of the innovations made by Adolphe Appia. Furthermore, the growing impact of media technology can create a perception of ‘Liveness’ of these artificial actors. Liveness is a critically important concept, both on and off stage, affecting how one perceives the non-human and the type of relationships that are conveyed between the human and non-human actor, as well as the non-human actor and its human audience. This thesis covers the productions of “A One Woman Show” and a spoiler-heavy discussion on Super Danganronpa 2 The Stage ~Sayonara Zetsubō Gakuen~ within the context of the impact of projections on stage. Robots and the uncanny valley are also reviewed, with the play Sayonara as the primary case study within this topic. Then the thesis analyzes the experimental human theatre of Dumb Type, focusing on their plays S/N and pH, as well Vocaloid concerts and the impact of these characters, especially Hatsune Miku, upon the fans. In the course of this analysis, reasons are suggested as to why these technological innovations have found particular success in Japan. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ................................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... vi Dedication ................................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Two: Development of Mediatisation .............................................................................................. 9 Chapter Three: Projected Actors in Live Theatre ........................................................................................ 23 Chapter Four: Robot Actors in Live Theatre ............................................................................................... 45 Chapter Five: Dumb Type and Vocaloid ...................................................................................................... 64 Chapter Six: Summary and Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 92 References .................................................................................................................................................. 97 Table of Contents v List of Figures Figure 1. Chuckie the Chameleon ….……………….………………………………….39 Figure 2. Junko Projected Onto the Entire Wall …………………………………….....41 Figure 3. Geminoid F and Bryerly Long ……………………………………………….58 Figure 4. Dumb Type's pH Stage …………………………………………………….…67 Figure 5. pH Actors Avoiding the Lower Bar ………………………………………....71 Figure 6. Vocaloid Hatsune Miku Software …………………………………………...77 Figure 7. Hatsune Miku in Concert ……………………………………………….…….80 vi Acknowledgements I am indebted to my Thesis Supervisor, Dr. Cody Poulton, Professor in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, for his engagement throughout the process of preparing this thesis. His observations, research resource suggestions and challenges were all vital to the success of this thesis. I would like to thank director Kris Verdonck for providing me with access to various resources regarding his theatrical views, practices and exploration of the relationship between people and technology. I would also like to thank the actor and director Simon McBurney for corresponding with me regarding his creative process, specifically in relation to his latest production The Encounter. My thanks is also owed to Yoko Takatani of Dumb Type for corresponding with me regarding the integration of media technology into Dumb Type’s performances. Finally, I would like to thank both Sega and Nintendo for their encouragement in my correspondence with them. While these companies were restricted from answering the technical questions I put to them, their responses were telling of the commercial and legal importance of their technologies. vii Dedication To everyone who has touched my life, and to those whom I have yet to meet. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the encouragement that I have or will receive. Oh! And Ruby the dog. Can’t forget about her. 1 Chapter One: Introduction From Dumb Type to the collaboration of Oriza Hirata and Hiroshi Ishiguro to Vocaloid concerts, various modern and post-modern Japanese performance arts have been using experimental technology. This thesis will seek to show how cutting-edge technology, with particular interest in digital media technology, is being adapted into Japanese theatre; I will also demonstrate how it creates a unique interactivity between the actor and audience. As such, this paper will primarily focus on theatre in twenty-first century Japan. The significance of the study is to understand why theatre in Japan has taken advantage of and applied digital media in innovative ways, both from the point of view of the performers and the audience. In order to reach a compelling conclusion to this conjecture I have divided my thoughts into four main categories: mediatisation as a whole, projection technology in theatre, robot theatre, and specific Japanese theatrical groups who are working with digital media to enhance their performances. For the purpose of context, I will use this introduction to review important terms and concepts to which I will be referring throughout the course of this thesis. One of the most important concepts is “Liveness”, which is a key term in Philip Auslander’s book Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture: an academic study that will greatly serve my second chapter. Liveness is a term that I will use to address two different aspects: the idea of a live performance (Auslander 2) and the philosophical concept of artificial actors being “alive” (Parker-Starbuck 29). A strong defining feature of the concept of Liveness is the connection that can be formed between others, including, “the ‘energy’ that supposedly exists between performers and spectators in a live event, and the ‘community’ that live performance is often said to create among performers and spectators” (Auslander 2). I will go far more into detail about this terminology in the second chapter. Moving forward, it is the nature of live performance art to be a temporary experience. Hence the next term I will cover is Temporality. When a character is on the stage, regardless of whether that actor is played by a human being or an object, the performance will only exist on the stage. Therefore, when the story is over, the human actor returns to being his or her own person rather than the character, but the inanimate actor returns to being an inanimate object (Jakovljević 2). I 2 will argue that even though the projected character exists for only around three hours at most, if an artificial being is able to make the audience connect with it, then it is “alive” for that duration of time (Turkle 26). Branislav Jakovljević states that there are two main types of time passages: Concrete Time and Abstract Time. …‘concrete time’ is that kind of time that is inseparable from social and natural events such as holidays and seasonal labour, while ‘abstract time’ is a dimension of a commodity. As Moishe Postone puts it, in the former, the events ‘do not occur within time, but structure and determine it’, while the latter is ‘uniform, continuous, homogenous, “empty” time … independent of events’ (Jakovljević 4). Jakovljević states that performance falls into Abstract Time; however, it makes itself look like it takes place in Concrete Time (4), as a play is a string of actions that interrupt the “normality” of the characters upon the stage (Ball 9). To clarify,