Hiroshima Dispersed • Minster Green, Wimborne (2015)
Twelve members of Wimborne Community Theatre took part in a public reading of ‘The Grandchildren of Hiroshima’ by Misaki Setyoyama on the Minster Green, Wimborne, on August 6. This is what happened:
About the production
First, twelve of us gathered in the nearby White Hart garden for a planning pre-read. As we left to make our way to the Minster Green, a gardener having a pint, said, “I’m not into culture, but that was very interesting.’
In the shadow of the War Memorial, commemorating the lives of local men who died in both World Wars, we laid several kimonos in the shape of the rivers and positioned ourselves in a semi-circle. We wore black with brightly coloured scarves.
Over twenty people gathered on the grass and the memorial steps to listen, accompanied at times by live flute and recorded rivers – as well as the real sounds of aeroplanes, car horns, and rubbish trucks. When we spoke the storytellers’ memories, we held up their portraits.
A Japanese woman and her daughter travelled many miles to hear the reading and were moved by the retelling of the story they know so well. Somebody brought a basket of origami cranes to distribute to the listeners, and as we handed them around at the end of the reading, a dove was spotted flying over our heads to join its partner on a nearby roof.
Photos
Research
Hiroshima Dispersed is part of an oral history and performance project, The Grandchildren of Hiroshima, developed by London Bubble Theatre in a creative partnership with the Hiroshima Peace Museum and theatres in Japan, and performed by an inter-generational cast in Hiroshima and Tokyo during August.
WCT were invited by London Bubble to participate in Hiroshima Dispersed, by joining groups from London, Palestine, the Philippines, India, Belgium, USA and South Africa for a simultaneous reading of the play on August 6th, the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb.
You can also read about the development of the project on London Bubble’s Project Page.
Press
