Your Lie in April – Harold Pinter Theatre

Picture: Craig Sugden

Your Lie in April continues at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London until 21 September 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Your Lie In April is the second title inspired by a Japanese manga series in the last year alone (the first being last year’s Death Note, perhaps suggesting both the creativity and audience appetite to see further similar titles following suit in the near future. Their gripping stories and striking Japanese aesthetic certainly make them great source material, and composer Frank Wildhorn seems keen to work on as many as can, having written the scores for both of these recent successes.

Based on the Manga Your Lie in April by Naoshi Arakawa, the story has already been adapted several times, including a TV anime series (2014), a live-action film (2016) and a Japanese stage production (2017). A concert production at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in April this year sold out and received critical acclaim, and is now followed by a fully-staged production, running at the Harold Pinter Theatre until September.

Teenager Kosei Arima (played by Zheng Xi Yong) was a child prodigy of music, known as ‘The Human Metronome’ for his exceptional talent of playing the piano. Although he won numerous competitive awards and out-performed his competitors, his performances were never good enough for his ailing mother (Lucy Park), who berated him for not being consistently perfect.

Bitterly responding to one such retort in a moment of anger, Kosei wishes his mother would die, and experiences severe emotional turmoil when she does pass away. Kosei blames himself, and abandons music altogether.

Years later, alongside friends Tsubaki (Rachel Clare Chan) and Ryota Watari (Dean John-Wilson), Kosei meets the captivating Kaori Miyazono (Mia Kobayashi), a skilled violinist. Though she appears to have romantic feelings for Ryota, Kaori begins to spend more time with Kosei, ultimately asking her to perform alongside her in her next competition. As they grow closer, Kosei wonders if he can let go of his blame and guilt, and allow himself to feel the power of music again.

While there’s no denying its heart and graceful lightness of touch, Your Lie In April does feel occasionally clunky, perhaps down to the translation from Riko Sakaguchi’s original Japanese book into English by Rinne B Groff, which may have resulted in some lines and lyrics jarring and feeling somewhat clumsy. Characterisation is also a little too broad from the outset, stepping into caricature, and that takes a while to settle down, although again this could be to remain in line the manga roots of the piece.

What can’t be faulted is the beauty of the storytelling and the heart-warming message of the healing power of music, alongside some truly astonishing musicianship from Zheng Xi Yong and violinist Akiko Ishikawa, who both enthral with their classical interludes to spell-binding effect. This feeling of gentle beauty is further enhanced by a lovely set design of Japanese bridges and stage-framing cherry blossom trees from Justin Williams, and also a gorgeous lighting design (Rory Beaton), creating some stunning moments.

Director and choreographer Nick Winston has captured the emotion of the source material and delivered it well; the show has a smooth flow and tenderness to it which really works. Kosei’s backstory feels a little glossed over and not established as deeply as it could have been, to allow a heavier weight when he reveals his guilt later on, but it’s still effective.

One confusing choice is to have two performers as Kaori during certain sections, with the main actress beginning to mime playing the violin while the other actually plays it live. This does break the spell (especially as Zheng Xi Yong performs all of his piano work himself) – it feels like it would have been better to have a leading actress who could play the violin – although the rest of Mia Kobayashi’s incredible performance certainly makes up for it.

Frank Wildhorn certainly knows his way around a melody. Despite some awkward lyrics (Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller), his music is lovely and creates one of his strongest shows.

All of the performances are terrific, but the leading pair of Zheng Xi Yong and Mia Kobayashi really are the heart of the piece. Zheng Xi Yong’s acting may not always be the strongest, but when he takes to the piano, you can forgive him anything, his playing is incredible.

Mia Kobayashi is also an absolute knockout as Kaori, sassy and soulful with a truly stunning voice. She hasn’t even graduated yet (she completes her ArtsEd training this year), and if she’s already at this standard, her future is hugely exciting. Dean John-Wilson is also a lot of fun as Watari and injects some nice humour, although being much older than his castmates (at 35) does stretch the believability just a little too far.

A surprise delight from a title little-known outside of manga circles Your Lie In April is a gracefully beautiful story of love and music, told with heart by some great performances and some of the best classical musicianship you’ll likely ever see. Music really is a universal language, as is theatre itself, and its wonderful to see it celebrated through the eyes of another culture.

Rob Bartley