Tenchi Shinmei

All the thundering traditional Japanese drumming in the world—and there’s a frightening amount of it echoing around the cavernous hall of St John’s Church—can’t make up for a show that gets tedious for its narrow range of spectacle and paucity of dynamism.

Multi-national Nagano-based group Wadaiko Tokara are clearly masters of their craft – namely taiko, a several-thousand year old art of furiously banging barrel-sized drums. Originally practiced in ancient Japan as an aid to prayer and for intimidating enemies (very believable), over the last half-century it’s been adapted into a contemporary performance style.

Featuring players from Japan, Canada and Sweden, the four-member ensemble pound out incredibly detailed and exhausting-looking rhythms with all the poise and controlled aggression of martial artists. You won’t witness many more joyful and expressive performers on the Fringe than Yukari Ichise, who grins, jumps and shrieks her way through the show.

Yet in an age when the likes of Stomp have taken mass percussive performances to a new level, with the static and one-dimensional Tenchi Shinmei Wadaiko Tokara struggle to compete. Cameos by koto group Ensemble Rivelta, an old couple on bamboo flute and Japanese harp, bring a much-needed melodic element to the show in spells, but are so fleeting as to seem added in almost like an afterthought. Budget is obviously a constraint, but it’d be interesting to see Wadaiko Tokara challenge themselves to boost the scale, aesthetics and drama of their performance, and craft something that feels like an event rather than a simple concert.