A Reading Play “These Children’s Summer 1945・Hiroshima Nagasaki”
Conceived and Directed by Koichi Kimura

Simultaneous English translation will be provided at all performances.
Rental of ear-sets will be free of charge
English Translation by Sayuri Suzuki

08/7 Sat 2021 ‐ 08/8 Sun 2021

Venue
Theatre Tram
Address. Setagaya Public Theatre, 4-1-1 Taishido, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-0004 Japan
Telephone. +81-3-5432-1526
Detailed information about the access
https://setagaya-pt.jp/en/about/facilities.html

Cast
August 7th, 1pm
Kazuko Kato / Hiro Komura / Yoshiko Tokoshima / Mizuki Nishiyama / Toshie Negishi / Hideko Hara

August 7th, 5pm
Natsuki Oh / Kazuko Kato / Yoshiko Tokoshima / Mizuki Nishiyama / Toshie Negishi / Hideko Hara

August 8th, 2pm
Natsuki Oh / Kazuko Kato / Yoshiko Tokoshima / Mizuki Nishiyama / Toshie Negishi / Hideko Hara

Reading Tanka & Haiku (Japanese short poems) : Tomomi Takayasu

Performances
Saturday, August 7, 2021 1 pm & 5 pm
Sunday, August 8, 2021 2 pm
*Duration: 90min (without intermission)

Tickets（All seats reserved）
Adults ￥4,000
Under 24 ￥2,000
Middle school students and under accompanied by adults ￥1500

Contact
Japanese Centre of ITI 03-3478-2189（Mon-Fri, 11 am-5 pm）
mail@iti-j.org

Presented by Japanese Centre of ITI / New Chijinkai Theatre Company
In association with Setagaya Public Theatre, Setagaya Arts Foundation
Planning and Production New Chijinkai Theatre Company
Sponsored by City of Setagaya
 
 

This production is made possible by the support of JKA through its promotion funds from KEIRIN RACE

Synopsis
Japan is the only country in the world that has experienced the nuclear bomb. A leading stage director of Japan, Koichi Kimura has taken the writings, memoirs and journals of the actual victims of the bombing and created a reading play with the central theme of “Mother and Child”
Ever since its first production in 1985, the play has had nearly 800 performances all over Japan.
The words of children just before their death; the remorse of the Mother who scolded her child because he didn’t eat his breakfast; the young boy who has to cremate his dead parents… The episodes are heart-wrenching at times and truly moving.
The play does not cry out against war, nor does it rant about being victimized. It simply weaves words of affection and bonding between the Mother and Child.
A young girl who has leukemia as a result of the A-bomb writes, “I will live,
I will survive” despite her suffering and dreams of a better tomorrow.
We want the world to hear the brave, positive messages of hope that the children had before their short lives drew to a close.