Composer and Artistic Director: Masa Ogawa
Dynamic shifts of rhythm, a swirling backdrop of projected images, dancing, chanting, screaming, singing, laughing… This energetic show is an immersive sensory encounter and a physical rebuke to the deification of Artificial Intelligence. YAMATO are a group of Taiko drummers, a well-established form of Japanese performing art. Founded 37 years ago, they hail from the Nara area of Japan, and have since pounded their way round many thousands of shows in more than 55 countries. Their characteristic blend of powerful percussion and physical theatre is an enriching and uplifting experience.
YAMATO’s founder, Masa Ogawa, is musical composer, choreographer, and artistic director. He even designs the lighting and operates the sound. Using rock-concert-style projected backdrops, fire swirls, birds fly, stars shoot, traditional images reminiscent of Hokusai’s great wave are paired with psychedelic skies, and the team is seen running together through the green Japanese landscape. There are twisting patterns of matrix-style numbers, constellations, diagrams, QR codes. Sometimes the images are slightly cluttered and unclear. The group sings a haunting ballad, accompanied by surtitles, which are not always easy to read. Ogawa’s achievement in creating the Yamato drummers is hugely impressive, but a dedicated lighting artist might have brought clarity to these designs.
The show is called Hito no Chikara, which basically means the power of people. For this English run at the Peacock Theatre, YAMATO have gone for the translation: “The Power of Human Strength”, emphasising the idea that drumming is essentially and forcefully a human activity. In the background notes, the group asks whether technology threatens human existence and asserts: “In this age where humans are alive, /Beat the Taiko drum. …/ It is the heartbeat.”
The idea of drumming as a heartbeat is central to this style of performing. Building from an almost imperceptible sound like raindrops pattering to a frenzied thunder of noise, this upbeat crew brings the global rhythms of the human body and the natural world onto the stage and transforms them into an orchestrated symphony of noise, accompanied by sometimes-goofy physical theatre. There is some macho by-play of the my-drum’s-bigger-than-your-drum variety and a sequence where the male performers strike huge drums while doing sit-ups. But the machismo is subverted by comedy, and the whole group performs with a joyful commitment that is a delight to watch.
The drums themselves come in various shapes and sizes. Some are portable and high-pitched, some formed barrel-wise from slats of wood and tuned by ropes. Other huge drums, crafted from a single massive piece of log or tree trunk covered in cowhide, can weigh half a tonne and create a sound that resonates through the listeners’ bodies. The largest odaiko drum, two metres wide and played with padded sticks, comes from a 400-year-old tree. The whole show involves more than 40 Taiko drums, each with a unique sound. At one point, five of the group play shamisens while others drum. This traditional three-stringed Japanese instrument produces a percussive sound that fits well with YAMATO’s style and introduces a buzzy, banjo-like element into the set piece.
Costumes, designed by Akiko Ogawa, are a nice mix of casual and formal. In the first part, there are bare chests and baggy jeans under open kimonos. After the interval, atmospheric chanting ushers in a piece of lantern-wielding choreography with smart robes and layered silks. Lighting, operated by Haruta Ogawa, sometimes involves backlighting the performers and turning the lights on the audience.
It feels particularly human that this band of talented dancer-drummers are so charming: smiling as they smash their drums, performing little comedy sketches through music and movement. Their written blurb, by contrast, sounds rather serious and portentous: “Will there ever be a machine that can play taiko with unparalleled accuracy? Will advanced algorithms make them sound human-like?” At one point in proceedings, skeletal robot drummers march across the projected backdrop.
The players address the audience in serviceable English or, more often and effectively, through body language. They co-opt the spectators/listeners into the music: clapping, stamping, shouting (“with passion!”) and waving arms in the air. The whole theatre is caught up in a tidal wave of endeavour. Sometimes the drummers seem to throw the sounds to each other and catch them. Sometimes they set up a call-and-response with the audience. YAMATO’s show potently demonstrates that human vitality is impossible to replicate in its joyful entirety.
Runs until 30 May 2026
