“The best elements of the show are KENNY’s video work and Nicola T. Chang’s sound design creating an otherness that sends us to another place without losing its connection with the real world...As it stands, it’s gorgeous to look at, but the garden’s magical haven remains too inaccessible for us on the other side of the fourth wall.”
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“I’m not sure we really need a swooping bird to illuminate notions of release, and the piece feels padded as if pushing back against the seeming artlessness of a film whose gently capricious engagement is missing here...’The Garden of Words’ may need more watering, but the soil is rich enough to hope that the material is cultivated anew elsewhere.”
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“Despite the issues with the character development and the way in which the narrative is communicated, the set design and music are both beautiful...The Garden of Words introduces the concept of how a brief and momentary encounter can shape the life of an individual, and should be applauded for its attempt to incorporate the Japanese language and poetry in its storytelling.”
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“The music, by Mark Choi, and the sound design, by Nicola T. Chang, are gorgeous. They’re the closest we get to the emotional effect we should expect from this play. Everything else seems to be superficially touched upon and I’m wondering if a different perspective on the script could’ve done the trick, where it leans more on the metaphors and motifs that make the movie so eloquent.”
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“The creators of this stage production have taken Makoto Shinkai’s delicate, subtle 46-minute Japanese anime about two lonely people and turned it into something galumphingly obvious and more than twice as long. Though moments of beauty peep through, Alexandra Rutter’s production doesn’t really work as a tribute to the 2013 film or as a piece of theatre in its own right.”
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“While there are some fantastic elements to this production, namely the visual aspects, the main story is a bit of a misfire. At its heart, ‘The Garden of Words’ is about connection, and that is the biggest problem with this show – it failed to connect.”
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“The net impression is one of too many gaps – of something missing here both in terms of plot and, importantly, emotional nuance. For a show that pivots on language, the script – which also draws on Shinkai’s subsequent novelisation of his film – often feels overly perfunctory as it tries to encompass everyone crowding the stage. This is a beautiful but flawed adaptation. A more streamlined version could truly blossom.”
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"This adaptation... lacks the downbeat simplicity of Shinkai’s original version, adding in heavy-handed symbolism and a clutter of underdeveloped subplots."
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