Anjin -Sadler's Wells Performance

Anjin. I don't know how many of you are aware of the story of Will Adams, even those here in my own town don't really know his story all that well. And they should. He is perhaps one of history's forgotten figures and it's such a shame because of the impact he had. Baptised in a church not far from where I live, Will Adams has left an imprint of my town that has echoed across many centuries. 
 
It was 1600 that Will Adams arrived on the shores of Japan in a Dutch trading ship. The weather had not been kind to them and many of the crew had perished. Taken captive by the natives, the Portuguese and Spanish priests already residing there tried to convince Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa to kill them, proclaiming that they were northern heretics and pirates. Ieyasu however did not listen to their lies, and instead took a liking to Adams. In time he was given land and promoted to Hatamoto (personal samurai to Ieyasu) and named Anjin (pilot). Over the years that passed, trade was set up between the East India Company and Hirado, Japan. Adams was at the heart of it. The trading post between England and Hirado remained open until 1623, when Iemititsu Tokugawa, third Tokugawa Shoganate decided it should close and nearly all western trade ceased until Commodore Perry landed upon Japan's shores once more in 1853. 
....More history can be found here if anyone is interested.

So, this year Japan and the UK are celebrating 400 years of relations between our countries. There are quite a few events planned over the up coming months, although, if my Japan plans come off will mean I end up missing out on. (Such is life sometimes). One of these events was the Anjin performance put on at Sadler's Wells, and yesterday I had an opportunity to go and see it. 
I really enjoyed the show, it's definitely worth going to see if you are interested in this period of history and Japan. However I highly recommend that you do some reading before hand as there are a lot of characters and it is at times difficult to know who is who. I spoke to one girl after the show and she stated that she had been a bit confused at times. Luckily for me I have been reading some of the Tokugawa history over the past couple of months so I could work out most of the characters. The play did go on for quite a long time, longer than I had expected it to. Most of the story had been told in the first half and it kind of felt at times that they were trying to drag the second half out. I liked that it was spoken in both English and Japanese (with subtitles at the top of the stage) this gave it more of a genuine feel. I didn't like that the seats were rather uncomfortable, sitting for over three hours in them made me rather achey and there was not a lot of leg room either. However, the scenery, music and costumes were beautiful and it has been brought to life really well. I would give it about 7/10 and worth seeing. So, if you're around in London over the next few weeks, go and have a watch. :)