BWW Reviews: PACIFIC OVERTURES, Union Theatre, July 4 2014

The overtures made towards nineteenth century Japan stretched across the Pacific Ocean, but were not always as pacific as the smooth talking emissaries of the great imperial powers pretended. It is that clash - between the emerging industrial, trading, warring powers of the West and the feudal island Empire that drives Stephen Sondheim's strange 1970s musical Pacific Overtures (continuing at the Union Theatre until 2 August).

Much has happened since John Weidman wrote its book: Japan has been hailed as an economic miracle, and derided as an economic basket case; its popular culture has been ridiculed (Australian Clive James leading the way in his 1980s clip shows); and celebrated, the beautiful animations of Studio Ghibli now appreciated worldwide. But the Empire of the Sun has never lost its otherness, a quality that underpins Michael Strassen's production.

An all-male cast marry Japanese theatrical conventions (Noh and Kabuki formats are referenced) to more familiar approaches to musical theatre in a show that drifts from time to time before being jolted back to reality. And reality intruded once and for all when representatives of foreign governments turned up in the 1850s to seek trade agreements, the British sending along an Admiral who channeled the spirit of Sir Joseph Porter (natch) and as for the French! Well, Marc Lee Joseph ooh-la-las like a Moulin Rouge showgirl!

That comic interlude is most welcome, as much of the plot concerns the internal politics of Japan adjusting as foreigners arrive and start to impose their ways on a proud heritage. Trade, in which there are winners and losers, grows and with it come merchants with new technologies for the local boys and sailors with an eye for the local girls. As the old order begins to creak under the shock of the new, the people, especially the warrior Samurais, feel their grip on power loosening and fight back.

More an opera than a musical, the songs are long (and occasionally ramble a bit) but are sung beautifully and played thrillingly live by an excellent band under Richard Bates. Alas, there are no catchy toe-tappers - it's just not that kind of show - which raises the question of exactly what kind of show it is. It's part history lecture, part light opera, part cultural exploration, part spectacle - but it's not actually any of those really. The haikus of Reciter Ken Christiansen help to explain some of this distant world, but it's only in the final scene when Toyota and Tokyo's upcoming 2020 Olympics are name-checked that Japan steps out fully from behind the screens and shadows that shield its true nature.

To post a comment, you must register and login.