REVIEW: 1Shoulder Pad: Galaxy Train - A Hilarious Adaptation on a Sad Original Work

©️1Shoulder Pad: Galaxy Train Production

Few works manage to be both utterly ridiculous and deeply sincere at the same time, but 1Shoulder Pad: Galaxy Train managed to achieve it with style. Where Kenji Miyazawa’s Night on the Galactic Railroad is famously poetic and melancholic, this adaptation flips the mood completely, turning it into a piece that is full of creativity and brimming with Japanese absurdist humour. If you enjoy theatre that refuses to be boxed in, this show is a delight for you.

Written by Maruo Maruichiro, directed by Chobi Natsuki, the production takes bold creative liberties, keeping the story’s emotional spine while reimagining its expression with surprises throughout the story.

The most striking feature, of course, is the costume choice: performers wear a single shoulder pad to cover themselves. What began as a practical solution during the pandemic, when budgets left no room for full costumes, has now become a symbol of their creativity. Transcending cost and language barriers, this production took off limits both in body and mind to bring a new kind of galaxy train to the stage.

Miyazawa’s original is a dreamlike meditation on friendship, life and death, following Giovanni’s journey on the galaxy train during the festival. This adaptation preserves that narrative thread in the most efficient way, while reinventing the way it’s told. Scene changes come often, each with surprises that keep the audience tightly hooked.

Despite running for only 45 minutes, the piece knows when to accelerate and when to pause. The moving moment comes when hand-held subtitles drift across the stage, slowing everything down to remind us of the story’s heart: Everything in the universe was once one. We are all connected from the very beginning.

As a hilarious adaptation of a sad original work, the leap from comedy to poignancy is sometimes abrupt, though the time constraint makes this understandable. Still, it’s clear the piece is built on mature thought and precise choices.

1Shoulder Pad: Galaxy Train is proof that even limitations can spark the greatest creativity. It’s a show that makes you laugh, then reminds you why the story of Giovanni continues to endure. Bold, inventive, and surprisingly moving, this is fringe spirit we seek to enjoy.

★★★★

For more information, please visit: https://shika564.com/shoulderpad/

Credits:

Original Work: Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa
(Includes partial excerpts from “Draft: Night on the Galactic Railroad” by So Kitamura)
Playwright: Maruo Maruichiro
Director: Chobi Natsuki
Cast: Chobi Natsuki, Maruo Maruichiro, Tekari Tachibana, Yasuyuki Asano, Jumpei Shimada, Tomohiro Taniyama
Producer: Sensya Takahashi
Coordinator: Yuino Tokumaru