12.98°C My knowledge of Japanese folk tales, folklore and traditional music was bordering on the non-existent before I saw this show in the excellently adapted Headgate Theatre Rehearsal Room as part of the Colchester Fringe. I was fortunate to catch the final performance of three by Doubtful Sound, a Japanese bilingual theatre company from Tokyo now based in London. They research, translate, and perform traditional stories and folk tales from far-flung areas of Japan and tour them throughout Japan and the UK.
The stories are told and performed quite brilliantly by Shinako Wakatsuki and Gavin Harrington-Odedra, accompanied by the extraordinarily talented Sherry Sugita, who sings in the original minyo style and plays a variety of traditional Japanese instruments.
The tales are magnificently brought to life by this trio playing a variety of roles, including: the Yamamba – hairy ogre-women, some benevolent while others are decidedly malevolent; a drunken carpenter with death on his face; a lucky spider; a necromantic cat; a local he-man who helps build aqueducts; and a mask with a taste for blood. Like our own folk tales, there are elements of fear, horror, jeopardy, kindness and laugh-out-loud humour, usually with a twist in the tale or a moral to the story.
The result of this feast for the senses was 55 minutes of joy, enchantment, wonder and fantastic entertainment. It was wonderful storytelling, and I learned more about Japanese culture, folklore, music and traditions in slightly less than one hour than I have in the rest of my 64 years on this earth. A pure delight. There’s nothing doubtful about Doubtful Sound as far as I’m concerned.
Congratulations to the organisers of Colchester Fringe Festival for finding this fabulous, fascinating, enrapturing, absorbing gem from the Far East.
Review by Tim Young
