Every spring, the HAJET Hokkaido Players, a ragtag amateur theatre troupe comprised of Hokkaido JET Programme participants, put on English-language musicals for the kids and adults of the island of Hokkaido, Japan. I was part of the Players for the last two years of my JET career (2006 - 2008), and I had a crazy fun time with them. Ever since our 2008 production, I've done poster and production artwork for them, whether I was living nearby or back in Canada. You can see their profile and blog here.
On to the artwork!
2008: Oklahoma!
This was my second play with the Players, and the one that myself and the other cast members generally don't like to chat about nowadays. The process of rehearsing and performing had a whole slew of problems, including cast fights, towns and cities falling through on venue deals, and lack of an audience. Still, I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I made quite a few long-lasting friendships. :)
Can you tell I painted this without the use of figure references? Poor Curly doesn't have much of a crotch!
[Watercolor and pencil]
2009: Alice in Japan
I had to leave Japan in January of 2009 due to some unfortunate circumstances, and it was rough trying to re-acclimatize to life in Nova Scotia. Luckily, I found some comfort in getting to pain another poster for the troupe, this time for their highly successful original production of Alice in Japan, a quirky re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's book. Seriously, it was awesome. Momotaro shows up in it!
[Watercolor and pencil on cold-press paper]
2010: Aladdin
When I visited Japan again in early 2010, I was able to help out at the final performance of this play in Kucchan, waaaay out in the mountains. It was a great experience, and this show had some of the most amazing singing and costumes the Players have had to date. Everything about it was awesome, especially the fact that the story actually took place in China, as it did in the original fable.
This was the only play for which I've done more than one poster design. I was a bit too hasty with painting something (Hey, when inspiration strikes, she strikes when she wants to!), and thus left hardly any room (or too much room) for text.
1st design:
[Pencil and watercolor on cold-press]
2nd design:
[Pencil and watercolor on cold-press]
3rd design (used in the actual poster):
[Watercolor and pencil on cold-press]
2011: The Jungle Book
It's still in-production, but this year's production is looking to be awesome as ever, with a script based on the original Kipling novel, and choreography inspired by traditional Indian dance. There's even going to be animal masks! I can't wait to see what the Players will do this coming May. :D
[Watercolor and pencil with text done in Paint Shop Pro]
(All the dates and locations are fake, just letting you Japanese-readers know)
I'm also working on their backdrop illustrations, which I'll be sure to post when I've completed them! :)
I wrote a very detailed article on Jetwit.com. Take a look if you please. :)
- Caroline
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