A mobile theatre for Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande

Abstract

This thesis shows the possibilities of staging operas in unexpected yet accessible places. The location, no longer neutral, as most theaters try to be, becomes an important factor in each performance. It affects the development of the narrative, the relationship of the audience to the performance, and the technical requirements of the stage. Like the stage sets, musicians, and costumes that are renewed seasonally for the staging or an opera, the site and architecture constitute another, dynamic component in the creative process, while giving a new form and meaning to a familiar site. Three places in Tokyo are the site of the project: 1. an urban lot (Shibuya Ward, commercial and residential neighborhood) 2. an open riverbank (Tama River, Western Tokyo) and 3. an interior space (the glass hall lobby, Tokyo International Forum). The staging of one opera, Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande, provides the project's program.