The Tattooer ★★★ Charing Cross Theatre | October 14 - 26, 2024


It is difficult to know what to make of The Tattooer. The Programme Notes indicate that it is based on a famous Japanese story by Junichiro Tanizaki which recounts the obsession of a tattoo artist, Seikichi, to "carve his soul onto the skin of a beautiful woman." Apparently tattoos, while popular in Japan, are not meant for public display, so the relationship between the artist and the subject is a particularly intimate one, as is that with anyone to whom a tattoo is revealed. The audience here is thus being invited into a very private reality which seems to involve questions about the relationship between the artist and his work and the spiritual and erotic power dynamics that exist between the partners in the creative process. Questions are also apparently being raised about the distinctions between seeing, vision and insight. Unfortunately, it all remains rather unclear, possibly because of the very nature of the theatrical experience itself. Unlike with a novel which allows for rereading and pondering, the time-limited nature of theatre may not be suited to the themes which are being explored here. In the end, one can be left feeling simply confused by intellectual and sensory overload. As Seikichi, Leo Ashizawa creates a nicely plausible portrait of obsession as he lures his human canvas into participating in his fantasy, while Mao Aono and Aki Nakagawa as the two 'sisters,' or two aspects of the same person, neatly move from the dominated to the dominators as the play progresses. Playing the Englishman who naïvely stumbles into this complex web, Nozomi de Lencquesaing is almost a surrogate for many in the audience who are left quite confused by this deeply elusive and allusive drama. Special kudos to Hogara Kawai for a set which thoughtfully uses the space and definitely sets the atmosphere for the piece. The work of Gaku Azuma the ink brush painter who works on stage during the play's interval is positively enthralling and really constitutes almost a third act of this rather enigmatic piece in which one feels a lot may have been lost in translation.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Mark Senior

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