“The Dark Master” is a theatrical performance based on a Japanese manga by playwright and director Kuro Tanino. The Dark Master has been performed many times in Japan and overseas in the past with the first performance debuting in 2003. The original show was designed to take the spectator on a journey where a tired and aging chef (The Dark Master) trains a young Tokyo backpacker to replace him at his restaurant in Osaka. The previous performances showcased live and very real cooking techniques performed by the young backpacker while the audience wore headphones that enabled them to hear the Dark Master as he trained the young backpacker to be a chef. The whole experience was like nothing else with the combination of sound and smell the spectator could really feel and share in the experience.
This Fall at the “Tokyo Art Festival 2020 – Geigeki Autumn Selection” a new and reconceived version of “The Dark Master” was performed. The performance was hosted in VR for a limited audience. The show is held in a special space where spectators wear VR HMDs to experience this newest remake of The Dark Master in VR.
Story: The Dark Master
The performance takes place in a small Western-style restaurant called “Kitchen Nagashima” which is managed and operated by a master chef with first-class cooking skills in Osaka, Japan. However, due to his stubborn personality and extreme alcoholism, he never gets any customers. One day a young man wanders in from Tokyo as a backpacker looking for some food and a drink. The backpacker was jobless and in search of meaning for his life. As the story develops, the master chef proposes to him to be the chef in his restaurant, but this young backpacker didn’t have experience as a chef. The master chef, having faith in the young man, gave him a small radio headphone and then retreated upstairs where he never returned again. The master chef proceeds to instruct the young man using the radio headphone. Over the next several weeks the young man learns the skills of the Dark Master, eventually growing the business into a famous restaurant. The young chef never meets the Dark Master again after that day, but he continues to hear the master’s voice even long after he has gone
Playwright and Director: Kuro Tanino
“The Dark Master” is based on a manga by Kuro Tanino that was first performed in 2003. The performance has been remade four times since its debut. The show has been very popular for a long time. The original manga is an ultra-short story of about 20 pages, but it shares a keen perspective on the essence of human beings. Even to this day it is a work that strongly stirs the imagination.
In this fifth remake, “The Dark Master” in VR is a mix of video and live performance. It is a VR show that was conceived by people who share the same enjoyment of live theatrical performances.
This performance is not just a look into a master’s virtual kitchen, but also a full body experience where the audience can really feel the sensation of being there and sharing in the young chef’s transformation. It is a phenomenal reflection of what is real. It is a VR performance that will be suitable for audiences 20 years from now.
Japanese article:https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000046.000007657.html