I'm Absolutely Gobsmacked!

Land of the rising sun. Land where the old meets the new. Land with delicacies of raw fish and seaweed. Japan has given us many things, but unexpectedly dropped an intriguing new theatrical spectacular, 'Shun Kin', on London earlier this year that has played to packed audiences nearly every night. Based on Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's prolific novel, A Portrait of Shun Kin, the show is performed by experimental acting troupe Complicite and tells the story of the blind shamisen prodigy Shun Kin and her sadomasochistic relationship with her willing servant and lover Sasuke.

The story is bizarre and couldn't keep my attention for most of the production. Then again, it was two and a half hours long with no intermission, so the odds were against it. It also jumped around constantly and lacked any coherent line of thought. And, since my Japanese is a bit rusty, a good portion of my time was spent reading the English subtitles — poorly placed on the extreme left and right of the stage — while simultaneously trying watch what was happening on stage.

Only slightly more dizzying than trying to keep up with the dubious subtitles was the way the story was framed: on one side of the stage, a modern-day women sits in a recording studio dictating Tanizaki's tale for a radio show, as we watch Tanizaki investigate the stories he found in Sasuke's journal several years before, while the actual 1800s-era story of Sasuke and Shun Kin unfolds in front of our eyes. Confused? So was I. It does, however, amply demonstrate the concept of what the British call 'Chinese Whispers' or the way a story gets changed as is passes from one person to the next. What Americans would characterize as the 'Telephone game' concept I suppose.

Despite these setbacks, 'Shun Kin' shines as an intriguing and different type of production than London's West End is used to. The staging and theatrics of the production were masterfully and beautifully choreographed. Rarely have sex and violence been so unusually tame and graceful to watch. It's a far cry from the generally intense and gratuitous images we see in movies and television, and, though many critics disagree, I have to applaud Complicite's unique interpretation. Additionally, Shun Kin's transformation from puppet, (masterfully controlled by two on-stage assistants called Kurogo), to live actress harmoniously shadows her progression as a character.

And, in the true spirit of all things Japanese, the production blends the old traditions with the most modern trends. The show utilizes Kabuki and Noh theatre techniques, like the use of Kurogo, and cleverly shifting bamboo sticks to represent a series of different doors, passages and hallways, and blends them effortlessly with dazzling new theatrical technology, particularly through the use of projections to emphasize particularly beautiful or painful moments. Accompanying the entire production is a gorgeous set of melodies played on the shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese instrument similar to the banjo. Here's an example, courtesy of Youtube:



Definitely a show worth seeing — probably twice so you can ignore the subtitles and dull storyline the second time around and appreciate the beauty of choreography and truly stunning theatrical techniques.

Photo: Production still taken from the 'Time Out London' Website.