Joe Hisaishi's Original Music to be Adapted for the Stage Adaptation of Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke.
As many of you know, we had been preparing a new score for Princess Mononoke inspired by the music from the film and specially written for violin, double bass, piano and percussion. However, having been offered the chance by both Joe Hisaishi and Studio Ghibli to use the original film's music, our musical team will now begin working on bringing Princess Mononoke's soaring melodies to life in our stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki's epic fable.
We chose not to recreate the original music when we first conceived the production for logistical reasons. Due to the intimate dimensions of our venue, fitting a full orchestra in to accompany our performers would have been impossible, and we were concerned that taking the music out of its original orchestral context would diminish its power. However, having investigated the musical adaptation process further, sought additional advice and new support, and finally having been offered the blessing of Hisaishi-san himself, we feel we would be doing the film and its fans a disservice not to take him and the Studio up on their generous offer of using the film's music as the basis for our musical adaptation. We are honoured to have been given the opportunity.
The number of musicians will remain roughly the same at around 6 performers, but some instruments will be changed to better suit the original composition.
The decision not to use Freya Bryson's beautifully written score was a difficult one, but Freya and the whole team were unanimous in backing this change. We all believe this is the best decision for the show and are excited by this new opportunity.
We have taken on a new musical director in Kerrin Tatman, who will work alongside Freya Bryson in lovingly adapting the music from the film to suit a smaller acoustic musical collective.
Whole Hog Theatre team x
