PACIFIC OVERTURES. To 3 June.
Leicester
PACIFIC OVERTURES
by Stephen Sondheim book by John Weidman additional material by Hugh Wheeler
Haymarket Theatre To 3 June 2006
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Wed & 20 May, 3 June 2.30pm
Audio-described 31 May, 3 June 7.30pm (+ touch tour 6pm)
BSL Signed 1 June
Runs 2hr 45min One interval
TICKETS: 0870 330 3131
www.lhtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 17 May 2006
Strong revival of a striking musical.
Leicester Haymarket follows Brecht’s oriental parable The Good Woman of Setzuan with the Japanese perspective of Stephen Sondheim’s most Brechtian musical, its finale now carrying an updated catalogue of Japan’s 20th century consumer take-over of America. And, while it’s over-easy to see Iraq in anything American these days, the idea of a seemingly straightforward mission to prise Japan into the modern world having long-term consequences inevitably takes on a modern parallel.
Profit and compliance are the motives behind Commodore Matthew Perry’s voyage to open up 1850’s Japan, threatening violence if the Japanese reject his “reasonable and pacific overtures.”
Sondheim and John Weidman often use quietly pointed tones to make points about cultural disruption. Paul Kerryson’s production reflects this as a samurai’s wife takes the traditional way when fearing disgrace, sinking then rising, silently bowed, on the stage-trap. And the stillness of ‘A Bowler Hat’ shows the subtle foreign pressures that turn a bureaucracy against its own people. During this, one character takes on western clothing while another silently dons traditional robes, with a significance soon to be seen.
Kerryson’s colourful revival emphasises this stage’s width. It’s rightly unhurried, catching imperial Japan’s surface stability, beneath which political factions writhed. Designer Jane Linz Roberts provides a high-bowed US ship, its rifle-toting guards overwhelming poor samurai Yesaemon, sent to frighten them away.
This half-visible mystery-ship with its red lights is the black dragon of Sondheim’s song, its threatening presence seen from the native viewpoint. The silent authority-figure Perry, with long white hair, is revealed as a Kabuki-style demon in his triumphal dance at the first act’s end, the stage empty for the first time of Japanese decoration. Kerryson echoes this dance in the extended drumming during the final multi-media hymning of Japan’s commercial triumph (they even bought the Empire State Building).
He provides plenty of pzazz too, notably in ‘Please Hello’, which parades imperialism through musical pastiche. And he handles delicately the analysis of history and memory in ‘Someone in a Tree’. Spoken dialogue might sometimes be more flexible handled, but overall this is as fine a revival as we’re likely to see.
Reciter: Junix Inocian
Councillor/Lord of the South/Observer/Priest/British Admiral/British Sailor: Garth Bardsley
Samurai/Geisha/Noble: Trevor Conner
Lord Abe: Jo-Jo La Cerna
Lord of the South/Shogun’s Mother/Grandmother/Old Man/Madam/French Admiral: Julian Forsyth
Kayama Yesaemon: Hadley Fraser
Manjiro: Dougal Irvine
Observer/Merchant/American Officer/Priest/Geisha/Dutch Admiral: Daniel Koek
Tamate/Merchant’s Son/Shogun’s Wife/Young Boy in Tree/Noble: Spencer Noll
Samurai/American Officer/Soothsayer/Russian Admiral/British Sailor: Ray Scott-Johnson
Commodore Perry/Girl in Garden/Contemporary Man: Tsubasa Tagoku
Samurai/Thief/Physician/Geisha/Warrior/British Sailor: Jez Unwin
Councillor/Fisherman/Companion/Geisha/American Admiral: Melvin Whitfield
Karumbo/Contemporary Woman: Lisa Dent
Karumbo/Contemporary Woman: Yaa
Director: Paul Kerryson
Designer/Costume: Jane Linz Roberts
Lighting: Jenny Cane
Sound: Ben Harrison
Musical Director/Orchestration: Julian Kelly
Choreographer (Lion Dance/Contemporary Trio): David Needham
Emperor Puppet & Costume: Charles Cusick Smith
Kabuki consultant: M Kamimuma
2006-05-19 16:28:22