SPUTNIK SWEETHEART at the Arcola Theatre

★★★

“Melly Still’s direction is artful, feeling at times more like dance”

Sputnik Sweetheart is a mournful and thoughtful production which explores philosophical questions of identity, desire and purpose.

In Tokyo in 1999 Sumire (Millicent Wong), a young precocious writer, rings her best friend, K (Naruto Komatsu), from a phone box every night, she doesn’t sleep. Their friendship, coloured by his desire for her, sees them questioning the meaning and purpose of their lives. When Sumire falls for an older woman, she moulds herself into a completely new person, and the play questions how far she will go to pursue this newfound love. Told through K’s eyes the production plays with narrative voice, and the way his emotions cloud his perceptions.

There are real gems in Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel. Melly Still’s direction is artful, feeling at times more like dance. The stage is surrounded by three screens, onto which line drawing animation is projected, like a graphic novel, beautifully designed by video designer Sonoko Obuchi. This use of multimedia works well, often serving to lighten the more serious live performance. A motif of a cucumber representing an erection flashes up repeatedly, eliciting a solid and regular laugh from the audience. The merging of the forms is one of the most effective parts of this production, it feels fresh and bold, and creates layers within the performance, which allow the surrealism of the plot to flourish.

“This is an ambitious play, and parts do shine”

Lavery’s writing is stylised and lyrical. It is very beautiful, but feels more like the prose it is adapted from. The dialogue is stilted and never quite comes to life. However, part of this may be in the performance, as Natsumi Kuroda, who plays Sumire’s love interest Miu, shines as she brings the words to life. Kuroda is hilarious, and at times a little sinister, Miu’s imposing vision of how Sumire’s life should look feels deeply controlling. However, the most powerful moment in the piece is her monologue, performed from atop a revolving cube, and this is where Kuroda’s talent truly takes flight. The play is watched over by the mostly silent figure of Yuyu Rau, who sits sketching as the plot takes place. While this does play with narrative voices, and the concept of the viewer, it does not quite work.

Shizuka Hariu’s design is minimalist, but evocative. A cube, with one wall as a two-way mirror, acts as phone box, Ferris wheel, and portal into another realm. Phone cords wrap around the characters as their romantic entanglements complicate. Malcolm Rippeth’s lighting design also assists in the boundary-less nature of this production.

This is an ambitious play, and parts do shine, but there is a confused strain to it, which prevents it from ever really taking off. It also veers quite suddenly into the surreal, changing the rules, in a way which is part whimsically charming and part convoluted.

SPUTNIK SWEETHEART at the Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 30th October 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Gentlemen | ★★★★ | October 2023

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death Of Boris III, King Of Bulgaria | ★★★★★ | September 2023

The Wetsuitman | ★★★ | August 2023

Union | ★★★ | July 2023

Duck | ★★★★ | June 2023

Possession | ★★★★★ | June 2023

Under The Black Rock | ★★★ | March 2023

The Mistake | ★★★★ | January 2023

Sputnik Sweetheart

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★★★★

“There are brilliant nods to The History Boys in this performance, but it feels like a fresh, very current take on those dynamics.”

Three men sit in the welfare office of a prestigious British University. It is never stated whether it is Oxford or Cambridge, but it doesn’t matter, it’s one of the two. There has been an incident of plagiarism and one student, the quintessential lad about town Greg (Charlie Beck) is accused of copying his quiet bisexual peer Casper (Issam Al Ghussain). Bumbling and cringeworthy welfare officer ‘Timby’ (Edward Judge) just wants to show he’s one of the boys – he’s a student too! Laddish showboating, mute resentment and shameless pandering continue as do the reported incidents. But as the severity of the accusations escalates, so too does the complexity and moral confusion of these three characters.

Richard Speir’s direction complements Matt Parvin’s script to create a tense and uncomfortable piece, which subverts and contorts traditional power dynamics and builds a mounting sense of dread. The play is also very funny, especially at the beginning. The first half builds up archetypal characters which the second half breaks down. It could have taken it further, but the moral tangles and muddied sense of right and wrong which the play toys with are fascinating.

All three performers have shining moments. Beck brings emotional depth to the laddish party boy Greg, and his performance is genuinely moving. Al Ghussain has mesmerising physicality, demonstrated particularly in a piece of physical theatre during a dream sequence and a joyous moment of dance. However, the stand-out performance is from Edward Judge as the tragic, and easily swayed welfare officer. There are brilliant nods to The History Boys in this performance, but it feels like a fresh, very current take on those dynamics.

Cecilia Trono’s set is an evocative, naturalistic replica of this kind of office, and the attention to detail transports us there. Will Alder’s lighting design is able to go wild in a nightclub scene and a dream sequence, and Jamie Lu’s sound design becomes particularly interesting in the second half.

The play is not perfect, and there are certainly elements that don’t work. For example, there are repeated references to General Franco’s attitude to gay men, which is not explored in enough detail to make it worth including, and feels like a lack of confidence in the beautiful simplicity of this concept. The best part of this play is the claustrophobic moral mess that these three men are trapped in. However, the idea behind this play, and the way it explores it, is interesting enough to make it recommendable.

SPUTNIK SWEETHEART at the Arcola Theatre

★★★

“Melly Still’s direction is artful, feeling at times more like dance”

“This is an ambitious play, and parts do shine”

SPUTNIK SWEETHEART at the Arcola Theatre