THEATRE REVIEW: A Night At The Kabuki - Sadler's Wells Theatre, London.

What an absolute delight. This show is a feast for the eyes and the brain. Bravo to Sadler's Wells for staging this Modern Japanese Fusion. 

'A Night At The Kabuki' is written by Hideki Noda who has based this showcase around William Shakespeare’s 'Romeo And Juliet' tragedy, using Queen’s ‘A Night At The Opera’ album as the soundtrack. It seems unthinkable that these three influences could be mashed together.

What if Romeo and Juliet didn’t die? What if they lived to tell the story? Can history be changed? What if tragedy can’t be averted? What if the story is set amidst two warring Japanese families, instead of Italian ones? 

Of course, there would still need to be star-crossed lovers, death and murder.

If you haven’t experienced the incredibly exciting art form that is Kabuki, then this will be a delightful introduction, with a twist. It’s a fast-paced show with a phenomenal amount of energy. But it is very funny. We laughed out loud for most of the first half. It is a long show, so be prepared for over three hours of non- stop action. The second half was more sombre and during a week of highly charged emotions, a tear did appear in my eye at the end. A standing ovation for a truly magnificent cast. 

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre comprises, a combination of dance, story and music. It is known for its heavily stylised performances, the often glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate Kumadori make-up worn by some of its performers. In this production only one performer wears full Kumadori make-up and that is Kiyomori, who is Romeo’s father. He is both ferocious and funny, and he was so traditionally Kabuki that you forget you are watching a Shakespeare based performance in central London.

 

In true Kabuki style the performers were taking multiple parts and as the show was so fast-paced that you had to really pay attention to work out who was who. Naturally, these performers are incredibly well known in Japan for their theatre, TV and film work. I had a few favourites. Satoshi Hashimoto, a renowned Japanese film and TV actor, was so funny with an amazing stage presence. He was adorned in the biggest and showiest costumes throughout the show, having three major parts and several lesser parts. He is distinctly recognisable as the tallest and most distinguished performer on the stage. The funniest part of the whole show happens where Satoshi enters the stage with balloons (I cannot tell you more as I do not want to ruin the story). The audience were in uproar.

At this point, I need to mention Nurse; in Shakespeare’s 'Romeo And Juliet' she steals the show, the same happens here. On further investigation, I discover that the nurse who is sprinting around the stage, climbing up the scenery and bouncing from one place to another, is in fact Hideki Noda, none other than the writer and director. He knew how he wanted this played and he did it with gusto.

I recognised ‘Old Juliet’ but could not place her; she has also appeared in over one hundred and fifty Japanese movies. She was a continual presence on the stage. Both Old Juliet and Old Romeo (Takaya Kamikawa – another famous Japanese film actor) were on stage for the whole performance of three hours. They were the storytellers; they were the shadows and consciences of Young Juliet and Young Romeo. They were the voices of reason; they tried to change destiny. 

Juliet was from the Minamoto Clan who do not believe in riches, wealth, fame or indulgence. Romeo was from the Taira Clan where parties and wealth and notoriety are of the greatest importance. They come together in a clash of cultures, amidst a terrible war. They are young and they are in love. Both Juliet (Suzu Hirose) and Romeo (Jun Shison) are the most beautiful creatures that you could imagine, and you cannot believe their love is destined to last for only five days. Both Hirose and Shison despite their young ages have also appeared in many movies. The rituals of Samurai where you state your name before battle are also depicted, it was quite frightening seeing and hearing this troupe going into battle. You can only imagine how you would have felt if you had these fearless warriors racing towards you in times gone by.

'A Night At The Kabuki' was a fantastical magical experience, the lighting (red depicting wartime and pale white for calm), the beautiful changing of scenes under a rippling moving fabric cloth, seeming like waves and the underlying Queen soundtrack. 'Love Of My Life' playing out through the whole show, interspersed with clips from 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'You’re My Best Friend', 'God Save The Queen', and a few others. This performance puts Japanese acting royalty all in one place at the same time on the Sadler’s Wells stage and it was an honour to watch them.

This modern Kabuki was like a dream enveloping my whole consciousness. 

Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 22.9.22