Thoughtful show covering often overlooked firsthand experience of survivors of tragedy
Presented by: OzAsia Festival and Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed: 24 October 2024
OzAsia Festival 2024 has kicked off with many show and event openings, including Scored in Silence. The show is a multi-layered production directed and performed by deaf Japanese artist Chisato Minamimura.
Scored in Silence seeks to unveil and share some of the lost and overlooked stories from the time of World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the time radio and word of mouth were the best sources of information, particularly after the bombings when infrastructure for the dissemination of news was destroyed.
Deaf Japanese people at the time were already discriminated against and even underwent forced sterilisation at the medical belief that being deaf was passed on to children. The discrimination intensified after the bombings for deaf survivors who for a long time, in some cases years, weren’t told about support available or even what happened to the explosions.
It’s these stories, collected by the child of deaf parents who survived the bombings that are retold through multimedia and expressive physical theatre. A cloth screen is centred on stage, surrounded entirely in black. Minamimura performs from behind the screen upon which animations and words are projected as if they were all featured on a television screen.
The first three rows of seating are equipped with vibrating belts that create a more immersive experience and are intensified in moments, such as during the bombings to provide additional physical connection to the performance.
The first section is a brief introduction to the history of the war, atomic research, and the bombings. It was quite a compact history lesson and was written with no assumed knowledge so works as an entry level to the history but ensured the full context to the firsthand experiences were provided.
Miniamimura acted and signed all the characters and interacted with the animations as they were projected. There were light moments of humour in the piece while still respecting the seriousness of the survivor’s and their unique tales. Some footage of the survivors telling their stories were projected which amplified the humanisation of historical stories.
The show was completed in under an hour and the narrative had moments of disjoining in the flow. The opening section was chronological, prior to switching to the majority of one survivor’s story after another without the sequential flow. These quick changes between accounts and the short run time felt lacking of more stories from other survivors and emphasis of the impact living as a discriminated minority within a minority.
Scored in Silence is a thoughtful production and a crafted demonstration of how to make sure the essential human stories of our history are recorded and shared.
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Photo credit: Mark Pickthall
Venue: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, Kaurna Country
Season: 24 – 26 October 2024
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets: $39
Bookings: https://ozasia.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/scored-in-silence