Official Report: Debut Performance of 'Child of Time' by Studio W, a Creative Unit by Worry Kinoshita and Shunsuke Wada

Director/playwright Worry Kinoshita and musician Shunsuke Wada have formed a new creative unit, 'Studio W,' as an experimental space to create musicals. Aiming to show 'vistas no one has ever seen,' they have embarked on new creative endeavors unconstrained by genre or format.

An official report has arrived on the debut performance, Studio W Vol. 1 Reading Musical 'Child of Time,' held at CBGK Shibugeki!! from May 15th to 17th.

This first performance by 'Studio W,' a unit established to overturn and redefine musicals, took place at CBGK Shibugeki!! from May 15th to 17th. With the future goal of performing as a full-fledged 'musical' without the 'reading' label, the performance functioned like a workshop in the Broadway sense, showcasing the general story and key songs.

Set on a star where clocks and humans live together, the story centers on Chick (Ruki Saito), a 'clueless child of time' who is a clock but cannot tell time correctly. It depicts interactions with his best friend Taku (Shohei Hashimoto), music teacher Melo (Etsuko Niira), and clockmaker Master Rubato (Hikaru Makishima). The story weaves together philosophical themes—such as the meaning of the universe, time, and music—with familiar issues like accidents, crime, and diversity, all presented through 10 original songs written by Wada.

A key feature of this work is the creative 'catch-and-release' process where Wada composes and writes lyrics based on seeds provided by Kinoshita, and Kinoshita then expands the story further. They are taking on the challenge of creating works in Japanese, fostering the performance together with the audience as an experimental initiative to elevate original musicals to a global standard. After-talk sessions with Kinoshita and Wada were held after the performances to further refine the content through audience Q&A.