Taking my play THE MISTAKE to JAPAN in September

Aim

In this 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, we want to take a bilingual version of my play THE MISTAKE to Japan, including Hiroshima.

                       (Image of Riko Nakazono – original photo by Simon Richardson)

It's 80 years since atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities.

But the world doesn’t exactly feel a safe place now in 2025, does it? 

Though I live in London, I feel as if I’ve been living in Hiroshima, Japan, for a number of years, as I’ve been reading and researching so many books and interviews about what happened when the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945.  (The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later.)

In 2022 and 2023 we performed THE MISTAKE, the play I subsequently wrote, around the UK, with no public arts funding - just the enthusiastic support of crowdfunders and one or two small organisations.  Then this year, the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, I felt compelled to take the play further afield to the USA and to Japan.  

Well, we have been to the USA, this April/May, with the support of so many friends and supporters – and a detailed and entertaining account of our time there can be found here: https://michaelmears.org/the-mistake-usa-2025-blogs-an-adventure-in-nine-chapters/

And we are now preparing to take a bilingual version of the play to Japan in September.  We have some funding from supporters and grants from DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation and the GB Sasakawa Foundation, but are still about £2,500 short of what we need to fulfil the budget.

Once again, I have chosen to take no fee or salary, though my co-performer and collaborators will be paid and there are many expenses involved with flights, accommodation, translation costs and much more.

I intend that this will be the last appeal I make for the foreseeable future.

Everyone has been so generous and supportive already.  But if you feel inspired to contribute one more time to this project, however small an amount, or if you could spread the word to anyone you think might be interested, I’d be so grateful.

JAPAN

The play had a strong impact in the USA.  And I believe it will have a very strong impact in Japan – in a different way, of course.  Why Japan?   Well, I want to offer this play as a gesture of healing and reconciliation to Japanese audiences, to reassure them that there are many people in the West (including artists) who feel profoundly the pain of what happened eighty years ago on August 6th and 9th in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and who are doing whatever they can to ensure that these horrific weapons are never used again.

I want the play to encourage and support peace groups and organisations in Japan – and I want young people in Japan to have a chance to see the play and reflect on what it says about war and the use of these truly appalling weapons.

                                  (Michael Mears - photo by Simon Richardson)

A BILINGUAL VERSION of THE MISTAKE

Equally importantly, I want them to be able to see and hear my co-performer, the hugely talented Riko Nakazono, enacting her role as an atomic-bomb survivor in Japanese (which is her first language).  The scenes between myself and her will play in English.  There will be surtitles, and copies of the play in both languages will be available as well as a synopsis in both languages.  This is all taking a great deal of time and thought to get right.  Award-winning theatre translator Yojiro Ichikawa has done the translation for us.

Offering the play in a bilingual version to Japanese audiences seemed absolutely the right thing to do. 

SCHEDULE

TOKYO  Studio Actre, Nakano, Tokyo - Saturday Sept. 13th to Sunday Sept. 21st.  (Not September 16th or 18th)  

TOTTORI - Bird Theatre Festival, Tottori - Saturday Sept. 27th and Sunday Sept. 28th at 4.30pm each day

HIROSHIMA Hiroshima International Hall - Tuesday September 30th - 6pm - by invitation only

HIROSHIMA INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL ACADEMY (HIGA)  Osakikamijima Island  Friday October 3rd, 10.25am

We already have some strong interest from schools in Tokyo which is encouraging. 

In Hiroshima City itself there will be many events organised locally this year, and many spaces have already been taken up – so it was difficult securing a performance there. But we have arranged this ‘invitation only’ performance – at which atomic-bomb survivor Toshiko Tanaka will be present and will join us in a panel discussion afterwards.

This is going to be a very powerful and emotional day for us all, I suspect. 

                                  (Toshiko Tanaka with Michael Mears – London 2024)

JAPANESE AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

At a performance at North Manchester University, Indiana USA, in April of this year, a Japanese exchange student from Hokkaidō wrote to us : 

Hello, I’m Makoto from Japan, seeing your outstanding performance today!! Thank you for offering me this opportunity! I was so moved by your phenomenal production … it got me thinking the meaning of the accident in 1945. Irrespective of where we are born, it’s paramount to comprehend it as deeply as possible and pass it down to the next generation. Thank you for this wonderful time.  

From Mitchie Takeuchi - film producer – ‘The Vow From Hiroshima’:

I’ve loved seeing The Mistake both times in NYC.  It’s such a different experience from watching a documentary — the audience is invited to use their imagination, which makes it deeply engaging.  I have great respect and admiration for Michael Mears’ creativity, commitment, and passion.  It’s such a powerful and meaningful production — congratulations to the team of THE MISTAKE on everything they’ve accomplished. 

From Sachiko Miyamoto, NHK Television Japan, Producer:

2人が何役もこなし、原爆開発に関わった科学者、エノラ・ゲイ乗組員、被爆者などの心理描写を緻密に客観的に描き切った、緊張感あふれる、それでいて、とてもクリエイティブな演劇。

アメリカで原爆投下の是非を議論することはいまだに難しいが、

だからこそ全人類共通のテーマとして、ぜひ一人でも多くの人に見てほしい。

NHKプロデューサー　宮本祥子

The two actors play multiple roles in this tense, yet highly creative play, which presents a detailed and objective psychological portrayal of the scientists involved in the development of the atomic bomb, the Enola Gay crew, and the A-bomb survivors.It is still difficult to discuss the pros and cons of the atomic bombings in the U.S., but that is why I hope as many people as possible will see this play as a common theme for all mankind.

                                 (Riko Nakazono - photo by Simon Richardson)

OTHER FEEDBACK

‘Riko Nakazono is astonishing in her role as the Hiroshima survivor Shigeko Nomura, deftly taking the time to establish her personality before the bomb drops, making the aftermath even more staggering.’    (BRISTOL 24/7)    

‘The very personal accounts, particularly the use of diaries from hibakusha (survivors), make for a uniquely compelling and gripping production.’  (BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE) 

‘THE MISTAKE is a gripping historical drama that doesn’t overwhelm. You don’t end up leaving feeling the world is doomed. There is hope. The Mistake does what theatre does best. It makes you think. It challenges what you think you believe, what you think you know. It redresses historical bias and balance to the way we hear others’ histories and stories and gives them a chance to be heard.   (BACKSTAGEBRISTOL.com)    

                                 (Michael Mears - photo by Simon Richardson)

BUDGET IN BRIEF

Expenditure for getting to Japan and while there, including collaborators salaries etc. is estimated at £ 18,000.

UK Grants and other donations, plus a fee from Bird Festival Tottori, come to £15,400.

Leaving an estimated shortfall of £2,600. 

Can you help us fill that shortfall so we can take THE MISTAKE to Japan?  To share this offering with Japanese audiences.  Help us in our effort to enlighten, to illuminate, to change hearts and minds, to encourage peace groups and all those working for a nuclear-free world through the emotional power of theatrical storytelling?   

I can’t recall who it was that said, ‘Statistics don’t bleed’.  But it’s true.  The stats around what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the numbers of those who died instantly, those who died in the subsequent days and weeks, how many were injured, how many suffered from radiation sickness, are of course important.  But numbers can’t convey the reality, can’t connect with people, in the same powerful, immediate way audiences feel when experiencing deeply personal individual stories in the theatre.  

Thank you for reading this far – and huge thanks for any support you can give, in any way.

                                   (Riko Nakazono - photo by Simon Richardson)

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made