Voice of the audience was used to create Original Tempo disco music

A play without words, a mixture of music, visual projections and performance took place on Saturday night in a public space in a courtyard on the Main Street from the Japanese performers. The Original Tempo group pulled a large number of fans who wanted to see a piece of Japanese culture into rainy Košice. Theatrical performances were one of many gems of the USE THE CITY festival in the European Capital of Culture.   

2013_5_25_Shut_Up_Play_Tomas_Bachura_19It was an evening full of surprises, unusual physical and visual sequences, music and entertainment, and the audience was all part of it. Together they created paintings; they were an integral part of the performance. And certainly no one had guessed before that one can play the seat of a bicycle, an old TV and all kinds of objects.

It was something new. The visiting group filled the courtyard and wowed with their acting, movement and choreography. “I was surprised. It had an idea and a particular positive energy and humour. Those who missed their performance should regret it. It was very sophisticated, imaginative, interesting,” said student Veronika about this Japanese modern art and we can only agree with her. Actors, dancers, musicians in one person showed Košice their entertaining performance with a twist Shut up, Play! By professional performances they showed that one can play really everything there is at hand, one just needs to be able to change it into a source of music, pace and rhythm.

The pop experimental comedy from Japan could not fail to please. The technological details were all worked out in Japanese style. The actors just needed simple tools and without musical instruments they were able to make a small orchestra which could strike a chord with the audience.

“Our group The Original Tempo was formed in 2002 and comes from Osaka. We normally do music, dance, picture and sound. We do this by using different commodities such as water, cardboard, chairs, tables and different materials. These are the instruments we play. We have our own choreographer and designer, and actually what you see is the collective work of 14 people” explained theatre director Masahiro Kinoshita.

2013_5_25_Shut_Up_Play_Tomas_Bachura_4To the question of which “instrument” is most interesting he admitted with laughter “We record the voices of the audience and change them into disco music. To create instrumental music we use live material, which means members of the audience.”

The Japanese artists want to use their performances to stir in the audience such emotions, that when they come home they start to make music with the first thing that they pick up.

“We would like to give the audience our energy. I see our performances as a collective interactive work between the audience member and the actor. This close contact should bring closer and present Japanese culture to Slovaks” added the director. He doesn’t feel there is a difference between the Japanese and non-Japanese public. “We travel round the world. We have been for example to London, Edinburgh, Croatia, Seoul, to Taiwan and Singapore and it is the same everywhere.”

His feelings from visiting Slovakia are very good. “This is my first time here. I love it here but I don’t like the weather. I really like Košice because it is cool. There are beautiful old buildings here, I like walking round the centre and admiring the beautiful architecture”

 

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