KUWENTO – 物語(monogatari)
☆☆☆☆
“Through the stunning visuals and immersive stories, I am transported into a world of wonder and fantasy. ….These three adventures whisk you out of your living room and into fantasy worlds while telling moral tales about respecting others, looking after your fellow citizens and the importance of family – all beautiful morals that resonated in the past and the present.”
– Nina Cave, A Younger Theatre
PEARL AND DAGGER – Concert
☆☆☆☆
“Yojiro Ichikawa’s direction is the perfect mix of static performance and symbolic movement for a concert staging. The use of minimalist materials and props to portray the evil serpent is clever storytelling. Much of the movement looks to be drawn from Japanese heritage, which would surely only be more captivating and theatrical in the full production.
Overall, a lovely experience, and a valuable opportunity to see a new and original musical. Pearl and Dagger is a show to keep an eye on for when it can return to theatres in its entirety.”
–Bella Bevan, Broadway World UK
Wycinanki. List z morza (LETTER FROM THE SEA)
‘ … here is shown not only the joy of having fun together, but also dying, war cruelty and aggression. The latter is expressed, for example, by drastic sounding, tearing the paper boat to shreds, or death of birds simulating the freedom. Of course, the addressees of some metaphors and messages are adults accompanying children….The whole performance, although made up of various emotions, is maintained in a uniform, paper-born convention, but not overloaded by means. Beautiful and smart.’
URINETOWN
☆☆☆☆☆
My advice to you, get over the title, get a ticket, take a seat and sit back for the happiest couple of hours you are likely to have this side of the festive period. Urinetown: The Musical is back for a ‘wee’ while and should be enjoyed for the fantastic show it is.
– Terry Eastham, London Theatre1
☆☆☆☆☆
Director Yojiro Ichikawa has coached the cast in the art of coarse acting to great effect; it’s so tongue-in-cheek that I couldn’t help giggling throughout.—–Urinetown is just as innovative, creatively staging the musical in the traverse and utilising a simple, yet superbly effective moving set (beautifully constructed and designed by Andrew Laidlaw). I feel as though this review is slightly too glowing but honestly, it’s a struggle to nd fault. For a show that charges under £20 per ticket, this is a superb night out with plenty of bang for your buck.
– Sam Lawrence, The 730 Review
☆☆☆☆
If you hurry you’ll be able to catch the last few performances of the musical Urinetown at the Bridewell theatre, and you should as it is very good. Even more impressive is that it wouldn’t look out of place in the West End.—— Directed imaginatively by Yojiro Ichikawa and Movement Director Kimberly Barker, there’s a balletic grace to the fast-moving proceedings along with the toilet humour. It’s not quite like anything you’ve ever seen. Definitely worth spending a few pennies on a really good night out.
– Tim Winter, LondonBoxOffice.co.uk
☆☆☆☆
SEDOS have created a fantastic production, very cleverly staged in the round and with minimal set which allows for a very fluid production that keeps incredible pace throughout. The direction by Yojiro Ichikawa was fantastic, getting the most out of his cast and theatre, using every possible entrance to make sure the audience is pulled into the show.
– Joshua Thompson, LondonTheatreReviews
Yojiro gave us a well thought-through and thoroughly directed production with great attention to detail. He allowed the cast to expand to fill the long deep space at the Bridewell on multiple levels which helped to really make the action come alive. Set changes and transitions were slickly carried out and always relevant to, and supportive of, the narrative and driving of the plot. There had clearly been a lot of work done on the characterisations and how the effectiveness of their interactions could be maximised with some excellent work through the 4th wall which was really well done and delivered.
– Simon Jones & Carly Hilts, National Operatic & Dramatic Association
Ordinary Days 2017
☆☆☆☆☆
Ordinary Days by Sedos was an absolutely superb production each one of the cast was absolutely stunning and gave the best performance possible, as was the accompanying pianist who played the entire one and a half hours on stage and it was beautifully designed and staged as well. Such a clever production with beautiful music and singing. So many deep emotions and so funny as well!
– Janet Dawe, The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆☆
It was sad but heart-warming at the same time.
– Vanessa Corradi, The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆
This production of Ordinary Days is an absolute gem; it left me with feelings of astonishment. This show is the perfect example of what fantastic shows can be found Off-West End.
☆☆☆☆
As ever with the Bridewell and the Sedos company, Ordinary Days was a very impressive production. With just an enthusiastic cast of 4, a pianist, and 16 white boxes forming the set and props, a great show emerged.
– The Audience Club member
Yojiro Ichikawa used the space and the acting talent at his disposal well delivering a charming show that provided some excellent entertainment.
– Tony Sweeney, National Operatic & Dramatic Association
a beautiful new production of Ordinary Days. So elegantly directed by Yojiro Ichikawa
– Adam Lenson, Director
THE RED CANDLE – Mermaids in the East
☆☆☆☆☆
“a beautiful performance in a spectacular venue. Short but sweet, the storyline resonated with past and current events. A combination of dance, music, song and the effective use of masks and fabrics conveyed the story perfectly.”
– The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆☆
“so impressed with the way this was interpreted with the use of drapes and masks. The cast were excellent and really drew you into this Japanese fable. Beautiful music and great venue.”
– Sachin & Rachna Patel, The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆
“Director Yojiro Ichikawa Hassall has taken Nozomi Abe’s writing and mixed ‘straight’ acting, interpretive dance, singing and puppetry that fuse together to tell the story of the child and her family with a grace and beauty you seldom see in a traditional show. ….lovely and beautifully delivered production.”
– Terry Eastham, London Theatre1
☆☆☆☆
“A lovely and moving recreation of a Japanese fairy tale, beautifully combining elements of Western and Eastern theatre styles. Live piano music created a haunting atmosphere in this amazing underground location. Something really original.”
– Caroline Gardiner, The Audience Club member
“The evocative physical theatre and puppetry seamlessly conducted by the fluttering red and white ribbons which feature prominently, set out the charming, mystical rhythm of this production and its metaphors of human ills and joys. —- Those new to physical theatre will delight in the novelty and freshness of being free to interpret the unfolding drama as they feel and not as they are told. Moreover, those new to Japanese theatre will, no doubt, be even more liberated from their own preconceived notions of how to ‘read’ theatre. It’s surprising how small the cultural divide becomes when dealing with universal principles such as love, hate, life and death.”
– Eddie Saint-Jean, What’s Hot London?
“This is a charming, satisfying production, resituating some of the riches of Japanese culture in an unexpected but strangely appropriate setting”
– Sum Sammers, The Cusp Magazine
PETER PAN: A Musical Adventure
☆☆☆☆
“A fabulous night out “
– Emma Rogers, What’s Good To DO
“Director Yojiro Ichikawa manages to pull the somewhat cumbersome plot together, helped in no small measure by the 35-strong cast”
– Angela Cobbinah, Camden Reviews
“Yojiro Ichikawa used the wealth of talent at his disposal well with both inspired casting and excellent stage direction to give us all a memorable night”
– Tony Sweeney, National Operatic & Dramatic Association
TAPESTRY
☆☆☆☆☆
“It was nice to see lighting used effectively in this larger space, particularly in Tapestry by Fergus Church, and directed by Yojiro Ichikawa Hassall. Evan Horton’s wonderful performance of a young man struggling to show feelings of affection in public, quite simply bowled me over.”
☆☆☆☆
“What an opener to the evening this was. —- Making full use of the performance area, Director Yojiro Ichikawa Hassall moved Evan around a lot so as Owen enters a new room in the National, so Evan is in a different part of the stage. Evan himself, has a great stage presence and voice and gives Owen’s happiness and fear real identity as the story unfolds.”
“The show began with Tapestry, a monologue by Fergus Church in which Evan Horton played an out-but-not-quite proud gay man on a date at the National Gallery. This was the highlight of the evening for me, largely because of the exceptional quality of Horton’s performance: he perfectly captured the physicality of his character and the contrast between his self-confidence and his anxiety about holding hands in public. This is an emotionally truthful play”
FROM UP HERE
☆☆☆☆☆
“Fantastic show! Great score beautifully sung. Well Directed ~ Great cast.”
- Catherine Francoise, The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆☆
“It moved me from laughter to tears and back again.”
- Janet Scrace, The Audience Club member
☆☆☆☆
“Kept me captivated throughout”
- Russel Hartley, The Audience Club member
“Wonderful… Finely realised… touching and truthful…”
- Melly Still, Director; From Morning to Midnight and Coram Boy; National Theatre
“Full of physicality and collaborative activity”
- Broadway Baby
“A convincing and touching performance”
- A Younger Theatre
“Yojiro’s production oozes with charm and creativity”
- Aaron Lee Lambert, the composer
TITANIC the musical
“歌詞が明瞭に聴こえ、６拍子における二連符を丁寧に歌うなど、歌唱が行き届いているのが優れた点の一つだ。：One of the prominent things about this production was the vocal supervision. I didn’t find any problem in understanding the Japanese lyrics which is quite rare in translated musicals and could see that the vocal of actors were well supervised very much in details.”
- 小山内 伸, Theatre Artsシアターアーツ