Sputnik Sweetheart: A Haruki Murakami Adaptation in London

When I read Haruki Murakami’s work, I’m transported into a universe where anything can happen, and I trust his writing to guide me through the surreal (talking cats, sheep-men, a dancing elf) and the simple (finding solace in music, eating spaghetti, enjoying the company of another person, craving solitude).

The surreal and the simple are equally weaved together in Murakami’s 1999 novel, Sputnik Sweetheart. Originally published by Kodansha in Japan, Bryony Lavery has adapted the novel into a play that debuted at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London at the end of October, 2023.

As the story explains, “Sputnik” is, quite beautifully, the Russian word for “traveling companion”; Murakami explicitly references the Soviet’s successful launch of the world’s first satellite into space. The story follows three characters: Sumire, K, and Miu, who, like satellites, orbit in each other’s pull.

Sumire is an aspiring novelist working part-time jobs to stay afloat, and K is her long-time best friend who has feelings for her. Sumire doesn’t have romantic/sexual feelings for anyone until she meets Miu, a woman much older than her. Putting her dreams of being a novelist on hold, Sumire takes up employment with Miu, eager to spend time with her. Mui wants to love her back, but a part of her can’t. A business trip turns into a vacation and the two end up on a Greek island when Sumire mysteriously disappears…

While the screenplay explores themes of love and sexuality, I would not categorize the story as a romance. Rather, the story focuses on the existential exploration of these three linked characters - their individual stories, their past, and how they inevitably affect one another, changing each other’s direction as they do so, like colliding satellites.

Within the context of the play adaptation, this was remarkably clear; Bryony Lavery and Director Melly Still did a fantastic job using the space between characters to mark scene transitions. Demonstrating the evolving dynamics between the characters; Sumire, K, and Miu artistically revolved around each other, tangled each other up in phone chords, and danced in and out of each other’s orbit.

The all east-Asian cast featured Naruto Komatsu as K and and Natsumi Kuroda as Miu, each impressing me by living up to the characters in the Murakami book. Millicent Wong, cast as Sumire, perfectly represented the angst and playfulness of the character, but I found her inflections to be flat in her interactions with Miu and K - I wanted more feeling from her.

While maintaining Murakami’s story, adapter Bryony Lavery perfected the production for the east London stage. There were monologues and dialogues verbatim to the book, and also parts that were paraphrased and reorganised to fit within the 80 minute run-time. In this adaptation, Miu’s rejection of Sumire is less intense than in the book; in the book I could feel for Sumire more, but in the play adaptation I was able to empathize with Miu more. Regardless, I think this choice on Lavery’s part made the play wrap up more neatly.

Furthermore, Lavery added humor to the adaptation that succesfully provided comic relief in the otherwise thoughtful and serious story. Further lightening the story, there were musical and visual components to the production. Cartoons assisted the characters at times, drawing out stories and feelings and cucumber erections in the fridge. Music accommpaniments not only included Murakami’s love for classical music, but also unexpected tracks like “Love Will Tell Us Apart” by Joy Division. This wasn’t the only British influence - slang like “Bollocks” was utilized in the script, and there was an explicit shout-out to Dalston, the area of east London where the Arcola Theatre is located.

Lavery’s rendition of Murakami’s work is currently set to run until November 25th, 2023. Whether or not you are already a Murakami fan, I strongly recommend you see his magical world come to life in this production, it not only does his writing justice, but it creates another dimension to understand and appreciate his story about these traveling companions. Get your tickets here.