TOKYO ROSE: BURNT LEMON’S ACCLAIMED WORLD WAR II MUSICAL COMES TO NEW DIORAMA
One Week Only: 8-12 Oct | New Diorama Theatre
The true story of Iva D’Aquino: the Japanese-American woman accused of being infamous WWII propagandist Tokyo Rose
Burnt Lemon are bringing their Untapped Award winning, total sellout Edinburgh Fringe hit musical Tokyo Rose to London for the first time with a strictly limited week-long run at New Diorama.
Turn back the dial | From 2019 to 1943…
Towards the end of the second World War the Allied forces were tormented by an all-female Anglophone radio broadcast of Japanese propaganda. They attributed the broadcasts to a shady composite figure known only as Tokyo Rose.
1949. American satirist of Japanese ancestry Iva d’Aquino stands accused of treason in one of the most controversial trials in American history.
She is accused of being the notorious Tokyo Rose: that infamous peddler of Axis propaganda on behalf of the Japanese government…but was she the villain she was made out to be?
Five female wartime disc jockeys spit piercing verse in a rap-packed musical broadcast telling the story of how, in times of strife, lies beget lies, propaganda begets propaganda and mistrust begets mistrust.
During the second World War these forces converged on one woman, who has occupied an uncertain place in history ever since.
In an era when, especially in the United States, women and migrants remain scapegoats, and the politicisation of media has created a proliferation of Fake News, Iva’s story serves as both a reminder and a warning of how political fanaticism is the enemy of truth.
PRAISE FOR TOKYO ROSE
“smart retro visuals and songs that snap like a GI’s chewing gum” – The Guardian
★★★★★ Musical Theatre Review
“The entire company performs with precision, commitment and an intensity seldom seen”
★★★★★ Voice Mag
“approaches the story of Iva Toguri with tenderness and precision, making a must-see show”
★★★★ Scotsman | ★★★★ Broadway World | ★★★★ Miro Magazine | ★★★★ Broadway Baby | ★★★★ A Younger Theatre | ★★★★ British Theatre Guide | ★★★★ Spy in the Stalls | ★★★★ Musical Theatre Musings | ★★★★ Bouquets & Brickbats
“The cast of five are explosive. Their voices are positively Aguileran” – A Younger Theatre
“powerful and poignant and perfectly structured” – Miro Magazine
“a complex story, told phenomenally well by a company quickly proving itself to be one of the hottest theatre groups in the country” – Broadway Baby