Tragedy brings two strangers together in So Kuramoto’s “Nocturne,” a play about the Great East Japan Earthquake.
As Kuramoto, 78, wrote the script, his thoughts were on the people who lost family members in the tsunami. “It is a requiem for the forgotten people of Fukushima and Tohoku,” he said.
Set in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, after the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the story centers around a man searching for his two daughters who were swept away in the tsunami. He sneaks into a house in the evacuation zone and encounters a female sculptor, who is mourning the loss of her father. It is a tale depicting the sorrow and struggles of those who have lost people dear to them.
“A person I exchange letters with in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, says people are quickly forgetting (about the earthquake),” Kuramoto said. He added, “The coal mines of Hokkaido used to be like that. Regional areas are exploited as much as possible, then left to fend for themselves. I think perhaps we should contemplate the way we do things in Japan rather than shouting out against nuclear power generation.”
Kuramoto used that idea to stage a play in the disaster zone that intertwined the problems of both coal mining and nuclear energy. The production, called “Ashita, Kanashibetsu de” (Tomorrow in Kanashibetsu), was free to attend and allowed him to interact with the local people.
It was in Minami-Soma that Kuramoto noticed huge piles of sand along the coast where entry had been barred. He said a person had told him, “There’s no doubt my child is buried around here. I’m finally allowed to enter, so I’m digging with volunteers from the Kanto region.”
Kuramoto recalled, “The beach was beautiful, but digging uncovered wreckage. Thinking there may be corpses buried, they dug up the sand and formed mountains. It panged my heart to witness that scene.”
“Nocturne” will be presented on Aug. 10-12 at the Furano Theater Factory in Furano, Hokkaido. Kuramoto is also experimenting for the first time with charging admission to watch rehearsals, which will be held nearly every day from July 16 through Aug. 9. Each day will be unique, with different lighting, sound mixing and so forth. Audience members will also be able to help make the carvings for the play.