Playwright-director Hideki Noda's new work, "Q: A Night At The Kabuki," features all 12 songs from Queen's 1975 album "A Night At The Opera."
The play premiered at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, on Oct. 8.
Queen has been a hot topic since last year's release of "Bohemian Rhapsody," the Oscar-winning biopic of the British rock band. But it was about two years ago that "people close to Queen" contacted Noda, asking if he was interested in writing a play inspired by the album.
"I was told that it's a very theatrical album," Noda said prior to the premiere. "I listened to it intently and had to agree with that opinion. There're various types of songs, and the lyrics are also inspiring."
Two tracks in particular left an impression on Noda -- "Love of My Life," a heartrending love song, and "Bohemian Rhapsody," a song about a murderer who is haunted by demons.
Noda organically fused these two songs together with an idea he has long cherished: making a sequel to "Romeo and Juliet." In typical Noda style, he chose to avoid a biographical play about the band members.
In fact, ever since returning to Japan after studying abroad in Britain in 1993, Noda has restricted the use of music in his productions to ensure that audiences listen to the dialogue.
"Music is a dangerous thing," he said. "The moment it's played, it sets a scene. But this time music already exists in the story, so it's like directing an opera. As a director, I've tried to create not only scenes that flow with the music but also those that have a dissonant effect."
The play is set in late-12th-century Japan. Noda chose the Japanese setting because he knew the members of Queen like Japan. Two different couples depict Romeo and Juliet -- Suzu Hirose and Jun Shison play the couple in their youth, and Takako Matsu and Takaya Kamikawa play the pair years after the end of Shakespeare's play.
"The original play is a love story that takes place in the first five days after the pair meet. Now, if these two people who experienced the biggest event of their lives over just five days survived, how would they look back on the incident? I created a plot in which the older couple reminisce about the event and soon find themselves in the story," Noda said.
The innovative play features a cast of fresh faces. Hirose is making her theatrical debut, while Kamikawa, Shison, Satoshi Hashimoto, Kayo Ise and Naoto Takenaka are new to Noda's work.
"People I meet for the first time give me creative inspiration. They're all interesting," Noda said.
He had particularly good things to say about Hirose. "I think she's the only one who can play this role. When she appears onstage, she has a presence that gives you goosebumps."
Noda happily said of the scene where Hirose and Shison hug each other: "They're both fantastic. I can't take my eyes off them. Even in scenes where the play must maintain its momentum, I sometimes find myself too lenient in my directing."
All eyes are on the chemistry that will emerge from mixing the legendary band's popular album and Noda's talent.
"Sometimes creative activities fare much better when there are restrictions, so I decided early on to use all 12 songs in the project. I want to maintain the frenetic feel of the story," Noda said.
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