セイオヮホール Seiowa Hall

Entering a world without colour is an un usual experience. Seiowa Hall is constructed in shades of white and black and this creates a paper-like, two-dimensional feel to the space.

I entered the world in the venue's foyer. As I walked up the grand stair case, observed the mock stucco ceiling and ornate chandelier, I remembered a visit to Takarazuka a few years back.

The Takarazuka Grand Theater (宝塚大劇場) in Hyogo Prefecture, has been home to an all-women theatre company for more than a century. The interior of the buildings, like the aesthetics of many of the productions staged there is what I associate with the term kitsch.

Stylization is so heightened in the worlds created at Takarazuka, from interior design choices in the functional parts of the buildings, to set, costume, make-up, movement, dance and song in their shows, that it blinkers the cognitive capacity to recognize the many references that form these worlds.

Seiowa Hall, while far more minimal in design, shares something of this kitsch aesthetic too. The venue is home to the Japanese idol group Seiso No Owari. The group meets on an ad hoc basis in VRChat to create live events, including planetarium viewings as well as amateur dramatic stage shows. Colourful and expressive anime style avatars are a key part of the group's identity and tie in with the kitsch canvas of the venue.

Another view of the foyer, facing the auditorium doors.

The main stage.

A side angle view of the stage.

Standing in the wings.

A view of the auditorium from the stage.

The entrance to the control room.

The lighting rig with 5 preset lighting states.