Productions of Sondheim’s Japanese musical are rather a rarity, so this sparkling revival is especially welcome. There seem to have been four in the UK: at Manchester’s Library Theatre, ENO, the Donmar and at the Union.
The story of the arrival of US warships in Tokyo harbour in 1853 to force a nation that had sealed its borders for 250 years to open up and agree to a trade treaty (and the subsequent westernisation of Japan) is told in a beautifully staged Menier co-production with Osaka-based Umeda Art Theatre that has already played (in Japanese) in Osaka and Tokyo.
It differs in that it is a more compact version created by Sondheim, Weidman and John Doyle for a New York staging in 2017, cutting material that they felt did not contribute to the core story or did not fit with what they were trying to achieve, most noticeably losing one of the songs: "Chrysanthemum Tea".
Matthew White’s production is staged in traverse with sliding filigree screens, curved gold panels that hint at waveforms or can become rowboats, and at one end, the stage is sealed by a great disc that opens to reveal a gold-clad Shogun. Paul Farnsworth’s setting is enhanced by Paul Pyant’s lighting and Led Flint’s video, which slash the boards with steaks or blood or mark the delicate plashing of raindrops. But it doesn’t just look lovely; it is sung well and has a great band, lively choreography by Ashley Nottingham and a lively cast, almost all of East Asian heritage.
The show opens with the cast in modern dress viewing a museum exhibit of historic Japanese items before Jon Chew’s bleached-haired Reciter, who presents the story, starts to set the scene. He is in control, always present, a click on the remote in his hand will turn Japanese into English translation.
He gives us a picture of Japan as a tranquil land, while the rest of the world burns with each verse of the first song introducing a different aspect Japanese life. But calm turns to panic as Commodore Perry’s ships approach, four black paper boats borne ominously onward. Saori Oda’s Shogun, authority made slightly sinister by cross-gender casting, makes middle-rank samurai Kayama a Prefect of Police and orders him to turn them away.
Kayama (Takuro Ohno) recruits the assistance of fisherman Manjiro (Joaquin Pedro Valdes) who, rescued from shipwreck by foreigners, has spent time in America. It was he who brought warning of the Black Ships' arrival, but lives under double sentence of death for leaving Japan and again for returning! It is Manjiro whose imagination finds a way for the Shogun to meet Perry without touching Japanese soil. Their different responses to the meeting of cultures that channel the rest of this history, from a haiku competition in "Poems to A Bowler Hat" with Ohno’s Kayama, after the tragedy of loss, calmly absorbing western style while Valdes more passionate Manjiro remains devoted to tradition.
There is no record of exactly what happened when Perry met the Shogun; instead, we get "Someone In a Tree", a beautiful quartet for an old man (Masashi Fujimoto), his younger self in the tree (Joy Tan), a warrior (Iverson Yabut) hidden below the floor and the Reciter who were there. It is a highlight. Sondheim said of his own songs this was the favourite (it is mine too).
Other delights include a tongue-in-cheek gaggle of geishas getting ready for new clients in "Welcome to Kanagwa", a poignant picture of misunderstanding as British sailors try to proposition a girl with "Pretty Lady" and a lively caricature of Western national characteristics in "Please Hello" in which costume designer Ayako Maeda has great fun too.
Sometimes, accents make lyrics a little unclear, but these voices make a good sound. This is a lovely score and a strong cast delivers with conviction in every action, whether a fisherman casting a net or in slow-motion sword fight. Pacific Overtures plays for an hour and 45 minutes with no interval but holds every minute.