The City Adventurers were excited to attend the European premiere of one of the most popular romantic tearjerkers in manga history. A modern high-school musical mixed with Japanese manga mixed with a classical musical masterpiece…..
Your Lie in April is playing at Harold Pinter theatre for a limited season this summer.
Plot
Your Lie in April, is an adaption of a manga story about a young piano prodigy, Kōsei Arima. He is unable to play the piano following his mother’s death until he strikes a friendship with violinist Kaori Miyazono. She slowly encourages him to perform again.
Review
Set in a high school, we meet teenage piano prodigy Kōsei Arima (Zheng Xi Yong). Haunted by the death of his mother, a hard taskmaster who demanded technical perfection, he has given up playing piano as he can no longer “hear” the music.
Kōsei meets, and falls in love with, violinist Kaori Miyazono (Mia Kobayashi). Unlike his mother, Kaori cares less about being perfect and more about making an impression on an audience. She wants to show how music can make you “live in their hearts forever”.
Gradually Kōsei manages to rediscover the beauty of music with the help of his friends. As well as his new friend Kaori Miyazono, there are his loyal high school friends, the dim jock Ryota Watari (Dean John Wilson) and the feisty, tomboyish Tsubaki Sawabe (Rachel Clare Chan).
But one of them is concealing a secret and has told him a lie…..
The music is a mix of catchy pop-rock anthems and classical music. The story is told largely in the former, with the recital pieces being the latter. This give Zheng Xi Yong the chance to display some fantastic piano playing. And yes, it is him playing. Zheng Xi is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and a remarkably accomplished concert pianist.
Mia Kobayashi’s violin performances are mimed. Violinist Akiko Ishikawa provides the beautiful violin performances while standing next to her.
Your Lie In April conveys this bitter sweet love story in a deeply moving way with fantastic music. We loved it.
Tickets are available from the Harold Pinter theatre until Saturday 21 September 2024 for Your Lie in April
Want to join us on an adventure? Become a City Adventurer!
The UK based Social Club for people who love visiting shows, exploring new places, discovering new things and solving mysteries.
Life is a journey so experience it’s adventure with like minded people. Live the life you’ve always dreamed of. City Adventurers Membership includes invitations to adventures and travel mainly in the UK.