John Adams calls I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky a “songplay”, which suggests its hybrid nature, part opera, part musical, wholly Adams. It dates from 1995; Kerry Michaels and Matthew Xia’s bare-bones staging (its UK premiere), balances stylised movement and detailed observation, and provides all the requisite energy.

The title quotes a California resident’s account of the 1994 earthquake; June Jordan’s occasionally clunky text assembles a cross-section of multi-ethnic Californians, and Adams tells their story through 22 songs, each aspiring to the impact of a classic 45. To that end, he dredges his musical memories: Forties scat, Fifties doo-wop, Sixties Motown, Seventies funk. Despite the retro feel, the eight-piece band, heavy on keyboards, bass and guitar, keeps things moving.

Before the disaster, there’s a sense that sex or violence, or both, may erupt at any moment. The quake itself registers low on the Richter scale, one sticking plaster the only sign of physical damage; otherwise everyone seems unscathed, and the resolution feels hasty. 

Yet the seven singer-actors make believable Californians and they sing well, if sometimes relying on yearning, churning Lloyd-Webberisms. Cynthia Erivo’s feisty social-worker and Jason Denton’s cocky priest stand out, but it’s the ensemble which carries the piece.

Until July 17. Info: 020 8534 0310, stratfordeast.com