Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Fahrenheit Alliance V
Hirai-Kikaku and Media Kobo
Genre: Experimental, Installation Theatre, Interactive, Multimedia
Venue: C- Space
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Inspired by the novel Fahrenheit 451, this intimate one on one multimedia piece is a chance to experience and participate in a portal of imaginings about the future. Created during Covid times by Hirai-Kikaku and Media Kobo (Japan) and based on Kyle Yamada’s play, this immersive performance involves both the viewer and performer lying in separate beds as landscapes and voices are presented in a video montage of dream-like sequences contemplating the future of the world. Afterwards, the viewer is given the chance to contribute to this collective archive to be shared in future performances.
Review
From the start of this piece, you know you are about to experience something special. You are greeted by Mitsuko Hirai, the actress who initiated the project, herself. She leads you to an inviting room, warmly decorated. A simple mattress, a blue duvet, pillow and a thin white curtain divide a softly-lit room.
During the Fringe, you can sometimes find yourself in situations with small audiences which can sometimes lead to unintended, slightly awkward situations: Are you performing for the performer or are they really still performing for you? But in Fahrenheit Alliance, this type of focused attention is the main point, and the result is a unique piece – part performance, part installation.
It feels as though you are entering a portal, a parallel world or something out of a Murakami novel. Hirai reads aloud instructions in the form of an illustrated story book, a set of instructions, encouraging you to move freely in the space. You are assured that you will not be recorded during the performance and that you can record it. You can lie down, sit or stand, and interact with the projection as you like.
The performer lies down as well, as if she is your twin in another world, separated by a thin white curtain. In certain moments, you feel voyeuristic, watching as she sleeps, tossing and turning in the bed next to you. She narrates and translates the voices in the video piece, which is projected onto her duvet and she in turn is projected on the curtain and the ceiling. Scenes of Tokyo, abstractions of a human life, observed from a distant future or past, are displayed. Various voices narrate an abstract narrative, in Japanese and in English, contemplating the state of the world two hundred years from now.
In the second part, the same collective fragmented landscape is projected onto your blanket and, if you wish, your body. The piece has various layers of reflection, as you can see yourself projected on the ceiling when lying in the bed.
The performance provides the ideal vessel and environment from which to experience the reflections and thoughts of others, seamlessly melding real physical experiences, with those in the projection and recorded soundscape. Hirai’s gentle presence and performance and immersive setting all create a mysterious atmosphere.
Lying in bed in this intimate space, one automatically feels an unconscious familiar urge to close one’s eyes. In this position, one is more apt to see the projections as though in a dream state, and seeing and hearing the videos twice make them seem more like your own memories. The body absorbs the performance much differently than in a seated theatre. The presence of the performer in the next bed and being projected makes one aware of one’s own body. At times, the camera and light on the bed can feel invasive, despite the assurance that you are not being recorded.
At the end, viewers are invited to contribute to the next iteration of the show through a letter (this is the 5th). In each version, the content changes depending on the contributions of past viewers and the video, and audio are abstracted and edited to magical effect. Despite the careful editing, this type of project which relies on the content generated by participants, can sometimes be disappointing, even though the opportunity to contribute is intriguing and a central concept. I found myself wondering what the creators of this performance themselves would have to say about the future as well. In contrast to the care of the setting and performance, the footage was limited and random sometimes, which is to be expected as past participants may not be as visually skilled. An online archive could provide a chance to extend the performance, and allow viewers to access past and future contributions (the initial contributions were made by actors and actresses in Japan).
Some time alone in the room before and after the performance to reflect and absorb the space would be beneficial. I appreciated being able to speak and ask questions at the end with the performer.
Overall, this performance creates a very unique memory and reflection for those lucky enough to experience it. Every element of this performance is thoughtfully done and supports this other worldly effect – from the set design to the the type of paper and fonts in the paper elements, to the lighting and editing of the video. As a chance to meditate on the future and oneself, this potent show successfully transports us to another time and space. Emerging out onto the darkened streets of Edinburgh, I felt as though I had just woken up from a shared dream.
