"The aim of the musical at this specific point in time is fairly ambiguous, but White’s production is surprisingly tasteful. He honours tradition with creativity and tact, maintaining a steady grip on the tone of his concept and delivering it with sensitivity and charm. All in all, this is probably the best way one could stage the material these days"
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“What is most amazing... is how a story which is predominantly political, focusing on the character only intermittently, can be so profoundly moving...The song, as the show, provides a sense of something utterly momentous, symbolised here but indicating a much wider story for the mind to grapple with. Cups of tea, and history – and someone in a tree.”
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"The talented creative team behind this production deliver an imaginative showcase of Sondheim and Weidman’s work, conveying a clear message of nationalism, celebration of the clash of cultures, and how a country and its people can adopt new viewpoints in its journey to modernise and overcome adversity."
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" 'Pacific Overtures' is a beautiful presentation of one of Sondheim's least performed shows, highlighting a tumultuous point in Japanese history, when tradition and progress came to a head. "
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“There’s much admirable detail here – the use of Japanese puppetry, integration of origami and video wizardry, and you can’t fault the cast in bearing, or vocal execution. The show, though, remains sui generis – slippery, even slight, hard to respond warmly to (perhaps knowingly so), and, despite a few achingly lovely songs, arguably falling short of a Sondheim masterpiece.”
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“This is the first revival of Sondheim’s singular, peculiar musical since his death in 2021 and it is a wonderful, bijou surprise.”
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“Yet the melancholy strain that underpins the show, the sense of something valuable lost as well as modernity gained, somehow goes missing.”
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“Even if you’re a Sondheim sceptic you’ll be startled to see just how entertaining — as well as thought-provoking — this stripped-down collaboration with the Osaka-based Umeda Arts Theater turns out to be...Matthew White’s production possesses the tantalising, ethereal beauty of scenes sketched on a vase.”
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