WORLDBUILDING: The World of the Kagayou Theater

[LightningTopaz]

Play Profile: Journey Down the Ancient River

"Journey Down the Ancient River" is a thrilling story of a group of best friends journeying down the Thousand Melody River--Waku's longest river, and the interesting and adventurous encounters along the way.

The show is based on an actual historical novel of a similar journey said to have occurred about 400 years ago, starting from a mountain in Johto known as Honorable Armor Mountain and continuing all the way to the eastern tip of Kanto--near where Indigo Plateau is today. In the play the companions make the journey by their own choice as a journey of discovery--the real journey was made on behalf of the Wakunese emperor, in an attempt to have an up to date map of the country available for all. The play also adds many elements of fantasy to the history--notably warlords, martial arts, and yokai.

"This was a very different play for us." Ash recalls. "The journey is based on history, so Brock got the idea for us to perform the play while following the historic route down the river. We sailed in a period accurate boat so we would have some idea of what the journey would've been like. We even dressed up in appropriate costume! Our adventure got media attention and everything--and I wouldn't trade the memories of the trip for anything!"

"There was no way we could've pulled this off in our theater." Dawn agrees. "So Brock's idea to actually follow the river's route on a historically accurate boat and perform the play that way was genius! Our crew did the heavy lifting of all the permissions and getting chase crews to follow us in case something went wrong. Luckily, the weather, the people, and the river cooperated with us, so it made for a magical experience getting to see much of Kanto and Johto. The route took us through Pewter City, so of course we had to say hi to Brock's family while we were there. By the time we got there, word of our literal traveling show had spread around Kanto and Johto like wildfire, so we got a hero's welcome as we drifted into Pewter on the water. I wonder if there are other plays like this in the repertoire?"

Ash plays Crimson Phoenix

Misty plays Azure Dragon

Brock plays Jade Raikou

Serena plays Amber Delphox

May plays Courageous Beautifly

Dawn plays Golden Deerling

 

[Greninjaman]

Man, you must really like music and theater.
On a scale of 1 to 10, (1 being bad, 10 being good) how much do you enjoy them?

 

[LightningTopaz]

@Greninjaman

If done well, an 8 or 9--and even a not-so-great production is about a 6 if the group is really putting their hearts into it.

The point of this series is to provide worldbuilding info for ongoing and upcoming series featuring this style of theater.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Play Profile: The Raikou Leaps Across the Gorge

"The Raikou Leaps Across the Gorge" is an exciting adventure with Brock in the lead role. Many say that the triumphant jump that gives the play its name is the play's most memorable moment, and the timeless story of honor and revenge makes the play worth seeing again and again.

The show tells the story of Jade Raikou, who lost his martial family at the blade of Supreme General Devilish Sword. He flees into the forest, where he spends his time honing unarmed martial arts, his archery skill, and his music for the day when he will avenge his martial family. During his time in the forest, he meets others that have suffered under the general, and decide to join Jade Raikou's cause. After a long Zelda-esque quest, Jade Raikou and his new friends defeat the general, and restore peace to the martial realm.

"The jump that gives the play its name sets up for the final duel." Serena explains. "Brock normally isn't one for acrobatics, but he is very slowly overcoming that fear. While it looks like he is jumping a great distance, he's not even jumping that far. Supreme General Devilish Sword claims in the script that the gorge is 300 feet across, but in actuality, the gorge set is ten feet across. Brock also has a running start for the jump, making it easier to clear. He does have a catch tether hidden in his costume, spotters watching him, and a safety net inside the gorge set for extra security."

"Brock may make the big jump across Three Willow Gorge look easy, but his first few attempts were less than graceful." Dawn admits. "The gorge set isn't even that deep, but we set up the safety net, briefed the spotters on the jump, and put a catch tether on him to be safe. When the catch tether triggers, it stops your fall and holds you in place so the crew can pull you up. You can still change position and roll while the catch tether holds you, it just won't let you fall any more. Brock was a little rattled when he mistimed his first attempt at the jump, but his words to let us know he was okay were "Thank you, catch tether!" It just underscores our commitment to safety in all the stunts we do."

Ash plays Carnelian Phoenix

Misty plays Celestial Water

Brock plays Jade Raikou

Serena plays Righteous Delphox

May plays Sacred Beautifly

Dawn plays Divine Pearl

 

[LightningTopaz]

Play Profile: The 10,000 Manuals of the Honorable Sage

"The 10,000 Manuals of the Honorable Sage" (or just "The 10,000 Manuals" to performers, fans, and Tawame scholars) is an epic collection play (a long play made up of hundreds or even thousands of shorter plays) that is not often performed in its entirety today. A few troupes have tried, but backed down when they realize the show's run time. The Kagayou hopes to be the first troupe to actually perform the full play, even though they have performed a few episodes from it.

The show tells the story of a band of disciples seeking to find 10,000 powerful manuals a great sage and his disciples authored, and use them to defeat an evil sect. For many troupes, the long runtime is the biggest barrier, but when the Kagayou hopes to perform the full play, they plan to do it for charity, raising money for music and drama programs in poorer areas of Waku.

"This was a very enjoyable challenge!" Serena remembers. "We learned and then performed all the plays separately first on a grand tour of Waku, then did them all at once in well over a hundred days. We were all very tired after performing many plays each day, but when all was said and done, we would do it all again in a heartbeat!"

"We knew very well how much work would be required for something of this magnitude." Misty explained. "But when you truly love your work like we all do, it's the best kind of work, no matter what challenges or setbacks happen along the way. It was a big help that we played the same characters in every one of the 10,000 plays for the charity run, so we didn't have to keep track of who was playing what in every play. When we did these for our first tour of Waku, we did it as troupes typically do it--as standalone productions, usually with a variety of different character names. "

Ash played Vermilion Delphox in the charity run

Misty played Cerulean Dragon in the charity run

Brock played Venerable Raikou in the charity run

Serena played Crown Princess Golden Beautifly in the charity run

May played Beautiful Jade in the charity run

Dawn played Eternal Pearl in the charity run

 

[LightningTopaz]

Personnel Profile: Impesaria Rona Toyonaga

Name: Rona Toyonaga (aspiring rainbow of eternal abundance)

Age: 30

Height: 5'6" (1.72 m)

Build: Athletic and muscular

Hair: Medium length deep brown, almost black

Eyes: Green

Occupation: Playwright, lead director, and impresaria of the Kagayou Theater; formerly an eiyuna actress, but stepped down when she realized she liked writing and directing plays more, and to focus on her family.

Known relationships (so far): Mamoru Toyonaga (husband, very close and loving); Hiro Toyonaga (son; close and loving) the actors and crew of the Kagayou (close yet respectful)

Personality/Known history: Rona grew up in a family of actors and playwrights, becoming renowned as an actress. She met her now-husband when he was her yuushi, he stepped down with her once she made her decision to focus on writing and directing plays, and promoting troupes. They both took some time away from the stage to raise their son Hiro, but once he was old enough to start school, both of them returned to the stage--he as a director, and she as the impresaria to an up and coming troupe--the Kagayou. She and Ash hit it off right away, and before long, she was well loved and well liked among all the actors and crew among the seven troupes.

Caring and yet tough, Rona wants to see her actors shine both onstage and off. A good listener, she takes every concern and fear seriously, and will not force her actors into something they don't have the skills for, or are not comfortable doing. If a performer is not comfortable doing something, she will ease them into it in a safe environment. A skilled mediator, she is quick to find a solution that benefits all parties no matter what the dispute--and that tearing others down in any way is not tolerated. But for all that she does to help her actors and crew be their best, she will sometimes forget to take care of herself. The troupes will rally to let her rest, and show her often that she has nothing to worry about.

Strengths: writing plays, directing, negotiating, mediating, problem solving, doesn't get rattled easily, respectful to all her actors and crew, encouraging them to try new things.

Weaknesses: worries a lot, silence, taking time for herself (is working to overcome this), a bit of a perfectionist (is working to overcome this), can bite off more than she can chew (is working to overcome this)

 

[LightningTopaz]

The Group's Teams In This Version of the Pokeworld

These lineups are current as of Sword/Shield and the DLC. They are not necessarily full teams of six, and look very different than their real anime teams.

Ash's team:

Tintri the Pikachu
Hunter the Arcanine
Gaia the Roserade
Mina the Pidgeot
Storm the Jolteon
Erin the Lucario

Misty's team:

Pearl the Starmie
Michelle the Golduck
Mele the Primarina
Ariel the Vaporeon

Brock's team:

Terra the Sandshrew
Hinata the Kantonian Vulpix
Yuki the Alolan Vulpix
Tarina the Pichu
Rocky the Dusk Lycanroc
Willow the Leafeon

Serena's team:

Krystal the Delphox
Bijou the Sylveon
Aurora the Galarian Ponyta
Chocolat the Aromatisse
Espoir the Gardevoir

May's team:

Niji the Beautifly
Zelda the Gardevoir
Neva the Glaceon
Mizu the Squirtle

Dawn's team:

Kori the Piplup
Stormy the Pachirisu
Lola the Buneary
Raya the Espeon