Winter 2020 Mini-Sabbatical:
LIGHTING DESIGN for PHAMALY THEATRE COMPANY at the NIPPON FOUNDATION’S TRUE COLORS FESTIVAL, TOKYO, JAPAN
Honk!
In January 2020, I was invited to design the musical Honk! with Phamaly Theatre Company. We developed the production here in Colorado at the Aurora Fox Theatre and then presented it in Tokyo, Japan as part of the Nippon Foundation’s International True Colors Festival.
Phamaly Theatre Company is a nationally recognized innovator in progressive, inclusive theatre. Their mission is to be a “creative home for theatre artists with disabilities, to model a disability–affirmative theatrical process and to upend the conventional narratives by transforming individuals, audiences and the world.” (PTC, 2019) In my own creative work, I have sought out this type of work, which seeks to create opportunities for underrepresented communities to tell their stories in traditional theatrical spaces.
Honk! is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling. However, we reinvented the message of the story. Instead of telling the story of an ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan, we decided that the ugly duckling should not change at all. He should be exactly who he always was, and rather, we wanted the characters, and the audience, to see him in “a new light.” We hoped to transform the audiences’ perceptions. My goal as the lighting designer was to visually transform him into a gorgeous being who “hadn’t changed at all” but whose inner worth was finally made visible to all who knew him.
We combined the art of shadow puppetry with vivid projections and lighting to create the visual journey of the ugly duckling. The casting included many unique opportunities for actors with disabilities. For instance, two actors shared the roll of The Cat. Samantha Barrasso, who is blind, sang and spoke the character dialogue, while Ken Kanokozawa, who is deaf, performed the dance and movement portions of the character. The cast also included actors using wheelchairs and walkers. The rehearsal process was a fascinating learning experience, as we coordinated the special needs of each actor while solving the technical challenges of combining live stage singers and dancers with shadow puppets and projected scenic images.
The True Colors Festival is created by people who aspire for a society where everyone supports each other regardless of their differences in abilities, gender, age, and nationalities. Various performing arts programs will be presented throughout the year bringing together diverse groups of people through collaboration and participation, stimulating awareness on many levels. True Colors Festival is a festival that aspires for a society that supports and accepts all differences between disabilities, gender, age, and nationalities.
– Toru Aoki and the Nippon Foundation True Colors Team
BRILLIA HALL, TOSHIMA ARTS and CULTURAL CENTER, TOKYO, JAPAN
We then travelled to Tokyo, Japan in early February, 2020 to adapt the show for a brand new 1500 seat theatre called The Brillia Hall in the Toshima Arts and Cultural Center. Phamaly was invited to Tokyo to perform as part of the annual Nippon Foundation’s True Colors Festival, a yearlong series of international cultural events with the goal of supporting artists and audiences of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Supplemental Technical Materials
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