Allegiance – Charing Cross Theatre

Picture: Roy Tan

Allegiance continues at the Charing Cross Theatre, London until 18 April 2023.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

It is almost unbelievable to contemplate, but eight decades ago, the star of London’s hottest new show was sent to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, George Takei was incarcerated in shocking conditions for no reason other than his ethnicity. Since that traumatic childhood experience, he has become one of the entertainment world’s most beloved figures through his work on the original Star Trek television series and his delightfully funny and political Twitter account. Now, teaming up with Marc Acito and Lorenzo Thione (book) and Jay Kuo (book/music/lyrics) he is fulfilling a lifelong goal of telling the story of being a Japanese American during the Second World War.

Allegiance has had a long journey to London. After a lengthy development, it had its world premiere in San Diego in 2012, before embarking on a Broadway run. Since then, work has continued to make the show as impactful as possible, and it arrives in London’s Charing Cross Theatre in quite beautiful shape.

Beyond the powerful story it tells, Allegiance’s principal achievement is how effectively it establishes its community of Japanese American prisoners and makes you empathise with each and every one.

Takei plays the elderly Sam Kimura in the modern-day framing device, switching to Ojii-chan (‘Grandpa’) for the historical internment camp scenes. Knowing his personal connection to the story of course brings an added gravitas, but even beyond that it is difficult not to be impressed by the energy with which he performs, featuring in the majority of scenes and even treating us to a fine vocal performance in the number ‘Ishi Kara Ishi’. This touching song is based on the Japanese proverb stating that mountains can be moved one stone at a time, and it is one of Allegiance’s musical and emotional highlights.

Playing the young Sammy Kimura and complementing Takei’s performance perfectly is Telly Leung. Leung’s charismatic stage presence is undeniable and despite having an impressive resumé already, he is surely one of the major musical theatre stars of the future.

Sammy and his sister Kei – played with heart-breaking conflict and relatability by Aynrand Ferrer – both engage in dangerous romances while in the camp; Sammy with US Army employee, nurse Hannah Campbell (the delightful Megan Gardiner making a very confident London debut) and Kei with anti-draft agitator Frankie Suzuki (a seemingly unassuming Patrick Munday who proves himself a natural in the spotlight when given his moments to shine).

Despite the heavy subject matter, there is a surprising amount of very genuine humour in the internment camp. Allegiance avoids the common trap of humourless ‘worthy’ theatre and by bringing a playful dimension to this community, every impactful moment is made much more real. Director/choreographer Tara Overfield Wilkinson has done a fine job of taking what is in many ways a very conventionally ‘Broadway’ show, and using the relatively intimate space of Charing Cross Theatre to bring us literally and figuratively closer to the story. Mayou Trikerioti’s sets and costumes are rich with detail and Nic Farman’s lights and smoke ensure your attention never waivers.

Although Act I occasionally slips into a predictable scene-song, scene-song pattern, the score makes it worthwhile. The songs definitely have their roots in that time-tested Broadway sound rather than Japanese classical music, but occasional pentatonic and modal flute flourishes do evoke that rich tradition. Considering this is only a six-piece band (led by musical director Beth Jerem on keys), Charles Ingles and Andrew Hilton’s beautiful arrangements sound enormous. There is an art to composing music that enriches an emotional experience rather than distracting from it, and from the heartfelt yearning of songs like ‘What Makes a Man’ or ‘Higher’ to the 40s bop of ‘Paradise’ or ‘442 Victory Swing’, Kuo’s score is a triumph.

As astonishing as this story is, it is one that must be faced. Society is slowly coming to terms with the necessity of recognising the murky ground between the “good” that triumphs over “evil”: the grey and downright dark areas of Western history that we must not forget any more than the war crimes perpetuated by nations we have fought. Not only does Allegiance tell an important story, but it does so with stunning heart, humour, and humanity. A masterful use of the musical theatre form.

Ian Bowkett