Minus 320 Fahrenheit by Hideki Noda, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Roseberry Avenue, London EC1 | until 11 July 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Takashi Okamoto

Minus 320 Fahrenheit

by Hideki Noda

Sadler's Wells Theatre, Roseberry Avenue, London EC1 | until 11 July 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Dazzling, daft, delightful and exhausting.”

Spectacular, an immaculately drilled cast, plus lots of surtitles are not enough to save this two hour and fifty minutes with no interval bottom destroying bladder testing show devised by Hideki Noda which in terms of story goes here, there and wherever takes his fancy. Things are not helped by the fact that the actors speak Japanese so that most of the time it sounds like a rookery faced with predators. It has already been performed in Tokyo to acclaim, and Mr Noda is a most distinguished man of the theatre in his own land, but it is a case of horses for courses and here there is no course for these horses. For the production those stars are deserved, but when it comes to the play itself the mind begins to boggle. It claims to be “a Faustian descent through myth, memory and other bad ideas” and that “someone might feel moved” by it, whereas another “might find it overly simplistic” which just about sums it up. But one cannot fault the stagecraft of this look at what science is doing to the angels as nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering and humanity's own innovations spin past the brink of control. The fundamental question asked is we are told – “What is life?” As far as one can tell a search for angel bones is under way carried out by Help and Professor Kyuri hindered by Faust, Mephisto and the Pied Piper of Hamelin not forgetting  Queen Himiko. her daughter Queen Hamiko and her son. God is in there somewhere too as it all starts with his annoyance at the height humanity has built the tower of Babel as it seems to have got far too close to Heaven. Catch it if you can as it is undeniably different, dazzling daft, exhausting and the stagecraft is to marvel at but a cushion to sit on and some sustenance for the trip would be advisable.

Cast

Isao Hashzume – Faust

Suzu Hrose – Mephisto

 Shoko Takada – Chairman Oolong Cha

Sadawo Abe – Help

Eri Fukatsu – Professor Kyuri

Sadawo Abe – Halfst

Koji – Ohkura – The Pied Piper

Satoshi Hashmoto – Deathmask

Suzu Hirose – Jean

Isao Haszume – Dr Bonewave

Eri Fukatsu – Queen Himiko

Shoko Takada – Queen Hamiko

Satoshi Hashimoto – Hamiko's younger brother

Isao Hashizume – God

Suzu Hirose – Angel of Light

Misaki – Narrator

Creatives

Director – Hideki Noda

Set Design – Yukio Horio

Lighting Design – Motoi Hattori & Makoto Kitazawa

Costume Design – Kodue Hibino

Beauty Director – Isao Tsuge

Projection Design – Takei Ueda

Choreography – Shigehiro Ide