The Donmar Warehouse is presenting its fifth Sondheim work with its current Pacific Overtures, a co-production with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which mounted the piece in 2001 under the direction of Gary Griffin. Using some of the same players, Griffin has redirected the piece in the intimate 250-seat house, with the audience seated on all four sides for the first time in the Donmar's history. The musical's original New York production in 1976 was a lavish spectacular that employed a huge cast of 46. The 1984 revised version in New York used a cast of 19. Here the show triumphs with a multiracial British-American cast of only ten men -- allowing the audience to concentrate on the subtle complexities of the text.
What the creators have done is produce a musical about the forced opening of Japan by Commodore Perry in 1853 after Japan's two and a half centuries of isolation -- and to do so from the Japanese point of view. The result is a masterly exploration of America's imposition of its values and practices on a foreign nation (Iraq, anyone?). Sondheim has intentionally adapted Japanese features from the kabuki and noh theater, along with characteristic elements of Japanese musical style and the poetic haiku tradition. Especially in Act II, he also offers humorous stylistic parodies to accompany the appearances of Perry and a batch of admirals from Britain, Holland, Russia and France. The work concludes with references to what western influences have inspired in the decades since: Toyota cars, Seiko watches, Mitsubishi videos, and tourism.
The 10-man cast (who in Japanese fashion play female roles too) perform with incredible rhythmic precision. With one exception, they all have multiple roles (one has ten, another thirteen), with no slips in the quick change from one character to another. Hugh Vanstone's dramatic lighting makes a vital contribution.
