- アメリカの時計 (The American Clock)
9/18/23 (Mon), Yokohama
A Japanese production of this lesser known 1980 drama by Arthur Miller based on his own family’s experience during the Depression. Continue reading
Category Archives: Play
The Crucible (National Theatre)
- The Crucible
11/1/22 (Tues), London National Theatre
A splendid production. The play itself feels overly long with way too many characters and some leaden dialogue, but there’s no denying its powerful narrative drive. The theme is always relevant but felt particularly so after the shocking treatment (at least from a non-American perspective) of those with alternative views during the past several years.
My Neighbor Totoro (stage version)
- My Neighbor Totoro
10/27/22 (Thurs), Barbican
You have to be brave to take on a piece as beloved as this 1988 film, one of the most famous of all Japanese anime. I wonder if the Japanese creators preferred a foreign production so as to avoid dealing with overheated domestic expectations. The Tokyo production of Spirited Away was spectacular but simply put the movie on stage (think Beauty and the Beast), and the question here is whether Totoro would take a more theatrical approach (think The Lion King).
The results were magical. Continue reading
Marvellous
- Marvellous
10/25/22 (Tues), West End
A friend selected this play, apparently thinking from the photos that it was some kind of circus. As it happens, the play is a celebration of the life of Neil Baldwin, a physically disabled man with a speech impediment who became known as a professional clown and mascot for a local sports team (at times in a chicken suit). His unflagging can-do attitude was evidently an inspiration to the public, especially in those less-evolved times, and he has been recognized by the Queen and portrayed in a film biography.
That’s good for those who know about him, but rather trying for those of us who don’t. Continue reading
Blues for an Alabama Sky
- Blues for an Alabama Sky
10/22/22 (Sat), London National Theatre
Pearl Cleage’s 1990 show, making its UK debut in a production by Lynette Linton, is an entertaining look at Harlem residents during the so-called Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s. Continue reading
Life of Pi (stage version)
- Life of Pi
10/22/22 (Sat), London
A 2019 dramatization by Lolita Chakrabarti of Yann Martel’s best-seller about a boy who survives a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean that kills his family, the entire crew and its cargo of zoo animals only to find himself on a rickety lifeboat with four zoo-mates, including, most frighteningly, a hungry Bengal tiger. A stage version seemed an audacious move given the sweep of the novel (from a small Indian village to a large ship to months on the open waters) as well as the presence of animals, inevitably meaning puppets of some kind. But I was ready for anything.
Inn of Evil (いのちぼうにふろう) (stage version)
- いのちぼうにふろう (Inn of Evil)
10/3/22 (Mon)
This 1997 stage adaptation was written specifically for this theater, an outdoor venue in a small town on Noto Peninsula that was built for screen legend Nakadai Tatsuya and his Mumeijuku theater group. The group has been performing there for years, concentrating primarily on Western classics. Miyazaki Kyoko, Nakadai’s late wife, seems to have based the play less on the original novel than on her screenplays for the film and subsequent television version. The stage show proved to be her final work. The film, a small masterpiece, largely takes place in or around a tavern, so a stage version made sense on paper. I was eager to see what they had done with it, especially with Nakadai revisiting his old film in a new role.
Nakadai, who will be 90 next month, is ageless. His voice carries to the back of the theater with no strain or mannerisms, and his acting remains powerful. He has shifted from his film role of the heartless smuggler Sadashichi to the equally important role of the tavern keeper, who seems somewhat more prominent here. Much older than everyone else on stage, he brings gravitas to the role in a natural performance. Though celebrating his 70th anniversary in show business, he remains in full command of his powers. It is an impressive performance regardless of his age.
Which is a good thing, because no one else on stage is remotely in that category. Continue reading
Prima Facie (NT Live)
- Prima Facie (NT Live), 8/25/22 (Thurs)
This one-woman show by Suzie Miller, originally presented in her native Australia, had received extremely strong reviews in its London debut, and the NT Live film itself set new records (though the play itself wasn’t an NT production – not sure how that works). Jodie Comer, apparently a young television star, won raves for her work. I’m usually wary of one-woman pieces since they tend these days to be self-centered rantings about female empowerment aimed at female audiences. Still, Fleabag worked out pretty well, so I decided to chance it.
A Look Back: The Hangmen
23 April 2022 (Sat)
Martin McDonagh’s mordant The Hangmen has finally reached Broadway after a pandemic delay to near universal acclaim. The NY Times reviewer suggests that the reaction to the play today might not be the same as prior to the pandemic since, in his opinion, people have become more indifferent to death, suffering and unfairness. His memory seems rather faulty; I suspect he would have written the same thing back then. In any event, I loved it on its initial West End run some years back and rerun below my thoughts at that time.
Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) (stage version)
- 千と千尋の神隠し (Spirited Away) (stage version)
3/22/22 (Tues)
Spirited Away, the worldwide anime hit, has been retooled as a major stage show by British director John Caird of Les Mis fame. It’s always a thorny business bringing films to the stage since few producers have the creativity or guts to stray too far from familiar material, as way too many Broadway duds have proven in recent years. This one was particularly tricky since they’re dealing with an animated feature involving supernatural elements. Anime/manga has been a rich vein for producers here to mine, such as the hugely successful Kabuki version of the One Piece epic and a musical rendering of video game phenomenon Token Ranbu. It is now its own genre, known in local parlance as 2.5D shows. But Spirited Away is based not on a series but on a single highly popular film – it reigned for years as Japan’s biggest-selling movie by far of any genre (until eclipsed by another anime last year) – with iconic characters and scenes that its legions of fans will be eagerly awaiting. The trick for a long-running success is how to balance between lovers of the film and audiences less familiar with the material if at all.
That’s not necessarily a problem in Tokyo: the show is only being done here for four weeks (followed by a national tour) and boasts familiar stars. That ensures a full house for the brief run – tickets were quickly snatched up – and the high-for-Tokyo ticket price of ¥14,500 should guarantee a profit despite the elaborate staging (they were going for over 10 times that price on online resale sites). Given the familiarity of the movie and the family-friendly material, I’m at a loss why they didn’t book this for a longer run, especially with the money they’ve put into it. I have to assume they’re aiming for a future production in London or New York considering the creative staff – in addition to director/adaptor Caird, non-Japanese handled the music arrangement, orchestrations, art design and puppetry design (in the land of classic puppet theater). That would make this a trial run of sorts. The Japanese theater world works in strange and mysterious ways.
A Look Back: The Lehman Trilogy
I see where the spectacular The Lehman Trilogy has opened on Broadway after brief off-Broadway runs. I saw the show in London with two-thirds of the three-man cast now appearing in NY, so I’m rerunning that piece below. What was really striking in looking back is that I happened to go to this show between visits to Fiddler on the Roof and Sweat, which made up a trilogy of its own of sorts showing the breakdown from tradition and community to an every-man-for-himself mentality. Here are my thoughts. Continue reading
Medea (NT Live)
- Medea (NT Live)
7/18/21 (Sun)
Carrie Cracknell’s 2014 production preserved in the invaluable NT Live series. I’m not a big fan of Medea since productions tend to be pretentious, especially with the irritating chorus (Noh does that much better). But I am a fan of Helen McCrory, who was so good in The Deep Blue Sea two years after this (also directed by Cracknell). The showing was in memory of McCrory following her tragic death from cancer at age 53 last year.
sekenbanashi 