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YAMATO DRUMMERS OF JAPAN
Oxford Playhouse, 27 & 28.03.03
Nine performers (4 male, 5 female); more than 20 drums of varying sizes;
a bewildering myriad of memorised rhythms. Yamato take to the stage like
a troupe of lions, glittering in their dark copper-coloured robes, their
feet bare, their exposed arms taught with muscle, uttering shrieks of
delight and leaping feet into the air when the frenetic beats joyfully
take them over.
Yamato are master performers. Unlike more traditional japanese drumming
troupes, performing their incredible routines with the dour and sour-faced
precision of a religious ritual, Yamato's approach is more like familiar
physical theatre, and they are evidently a young, vibrant and fresh company
- and no less frighteningly accurate for it. Whether sitting in a row
at the front of the stage bashing a lightning-fast salvo of beats on small
tinny-sounding drums (turning their heads abruptly on a particular beat
out of hundreds to grin fiercely at their neighbour), or whacking a drum
the size of an elephant with what looks like a fence post, Yamato are
spot on. At the finale the audience went wild, whistling and applauding
until their hands must have been sore (mine were), only to elicit a wonderful
participatory encore involving the entire auditorium in a yelping, clapping
repetition of rhythms relayed to them with good-humoured finesse by a
wordlessly expressive male drummer.
Part of the freshness of Yamato comes from the fact that the female drummers
- though consigned to the smaller drums, vocals, and the delicate-sounding
traditional shakuhachi (flute) and koto (zither) - have no less physical
a role (and are no less obviously strong and physically able) than their
male colleagues. The one slight criticism that could possibly be made
of the production is that the performers, whilst obviously more than capable
percussionists, dancers and even gymnasts, lack something in terms of
their vocal skills. Several moments when the aim was evidently to create
an eerie, ethereal atmosphere with the voices of the women fell a little
short - but this is a minor criticism of what was overall an awe-inspiring
feat of unbelievable dexterity, dicipline and musicality. See it if you
possibly can - I defy you not to tap your foot.
Visit www.wadaiko-yamato.com
for the amusing Yamato tour diary (in Japanese or English).
Su Jordan, 27.03,03
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