The Balance Between Theater and Music in Music Theater: A Case Study of “Metamorphosis of a Living Room” by chelfitsch and Dai Fujikura: Masahiko YOKOBORI
Abstract
In May 2023, the Japanese theater company chelfitsch and the London-based composer Dai Fujikura presented their new music theater piece, “Metamorphosis of a Living Room,” commissioned by Wiener Festwochen. In this work, Toshiki Okada, the leader of chelfitsch, and Fujikura collaborated to create a piece in which neither theater nor music took precedence; instead, both coexisted equally on stage. In this presentation, the speaker, who was involved in the production as a dramaturg, will discuss the balance between theater and music in music theater. Reflecting on the three-year creative process, I will examine how audiences received the creators’ ideas by referring to reviews of the performances. Additionally, I will reference the opera “Yuzuru” directed by Okada in 2021 and consider the differences in positioning of music in opera and music theater.
Event Outline
- Time and Date: April 12th (Sat.) 2025, 16:30 – 18:00 (JST)
- Format: Online meeting (Zoom)
- Presenter: Masahiko YOKOBORI
- Affiliation: Atomi University
- Language: Japanese
- Organized by: Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University
- Moderator: Mariko KASAHARA
Registration
Registration is required by April 11th (Fri.). Please register through the following URL:
https://list-waseda-jp.zoom.us/meeting/register/fe_7eW86TbOt6TZ7YH7Paw
*Please show your full name on the display, mute yourself, and turn off the video, except when talking; refrain from taking screenshots, recordings, etc., and follow the moderator’s instructions.
Contact
Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University: https://prj-opera-mt.w.waseda.jp/
e-mail address: operaken-uketsuke[at]list.waseda.jp ([at] = @)
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Profile of Presenter
Masahiko Yokobori is a dramaturg, performing arts scholar, and associate professor at Atomi University in the Faculty of Management, specializing in research on the dramaturgy of contemporary Japanese- and German-speaking theater as well as the surrounding environment theater. Productions he has participated in as a dramaturg include the opera “Yuzuru” (conducted by Hiroyuki Tsuji/Masato Suzuki, directed by Toshiki Okada) and “Metamorphosis of a Living Room” (written and directed by Toshiki Okada with music by Dai Fujikura). His recent publications include “Who knows we want to be an international artist?’ Producing Okada Toshiki’s Theatre and the International Scene (in Okada Toshiki & Japanese Theatre, Performance Research Books, 2021).
