ミュージックドラマ風鈴と灯台、その背景と使命。

これは２０１１年東北大震災の時に実在した、三人のヒーローのエピソードを基に書かれた、祈りの為の演劇、鎮魂と希望への音楽劇です。

そのヒーローとは、

先ずは青い目のおなご先生と呼ばれたアメリカ人英語教師。

彼女は自分の教え子達の避難を最後の一人迄見届けた後、自転車で避難中に津波にのまれました。

次に職場の中国人研修生達をとても大切にしていた水産加工会社の専務。

彼は余震の続く中、山の中腹にある神社まで研修生全員を避難させた後、

自分の家族の安否確認のため町に降りて行き波に呑まれました。

もう一人は大波の迫りくる中、我が身と引き換えに最後の最後まで避難警報のアナウンスを続けた若き女性。

その他愛する人を失くし、瓦礫と化した故郷から立ち上がろうとする人々。

私自身も８０年代ニューヨークのエイズ禍でダンスの先生を亡くし、その後９、１１でも友人を失いました。

天災、疫病、戦争、テロ、無差別殺人、我々は今混沌とした時代を生きています。しかし如何なる惨劇や諸々の苦しみに遭遇したとしても、そこには必ずヒーローが現れます。そして彼等彼女等が、他を救おうとしたが故にその命を落としてしまったとしても、ヒーロー達は常に我々の心に生き続けています。

今を生きる我々は希望の灯を消してはなりません。もし貴方が愛する人を亡くしたり、何かの理由で苦しみに打ちひしがれているのであれば、是非この公演に来てそれを共有しましょう。

そして私達と一緒に歌いましょう。

勇気と希望を讃える歌は我等を繋ぎ、明日への力を与えてくれると信じます。風鈴と灯台、これは祈りと連帯の演劇なのです。

濱田寿法

Wind Chime and Lighthouse

This is a musical play for prayer, a memorial and hope, based on the stories of three real heroes who existed during the 2011 Tohoku great earthquake.

The heroes are an American English teacher known as the Blue-eyed Woman Teacher. After making sure that every last one of her students had evacuated, she was swept away by the tsunami while evacuating by bicycle.

Next, the managing director of a seafood processing company who cared deeply for his Chinese trainees.As the aftershocks continued, he evacuated all of his trainees to a shrine on the mountainside,and then went down to the town to check on the safety of his family, where he was swept away by the waves.

The other is a young woman who risked her life to continue announcing evacuation warnings until the very end, as the big waves approached .Others are people who have lost loved ones and are trying to rise from their hometowns, which have become rubble. And I myself lost my dance teacher in the AIDS epidemic in New York in the 1980s, and then lost closed friend on 9/11.

We live in a chaotic age, with natural disasters, epidemics, wars, terrorism, and random murders. However, no matter what tragedies or sufferings we encounter, heroes always appear. And even if they lose their lives trying to save others, heroes always live on in our hearts. We who live today must not let the light of hope go out. If you have lost a loved one or are suffering for some reason, please come to this performance and share your feelings.And let's sing together. I believe that songs that praise courage and hope will connect us and give us the strength to face tomorrow.Wind Chime and Lighthouse,This is a play for prayer.

Toshinori Hamada

Photo Toshinori Hamada

About the Production

Wind Chime is a multidisciplinary work that brings a powerful and spiritual transformative quality to the theatrical experience. Based on true events of the Tohoku Earthquake, the subsequent tsunami and the meltdown at the nuclear power plant at Fukushima, the story is told through the lives of three people: a young American music and English teacher, the managing director of a fishery and a woman, the wife of a first responder, who sounded the alarm bell when the electricity was disabled by the tsunami. All three saved the lives of others. All three lost their lives. Music is the spiritual voice of Wind Chime. Through ten original songs and musical underscoring, the “elevated state of being of humanity”, that defies both verbal and written expression, soars triumphantly. The score uses an eclectic array of instruments: koto, violin, piano, shakuhachi as well as gagaku instrumentation which adds an aural atmospheric dimension rarely heard in contemporary theatre. The songs’ memorable melodies are accompanied by poetic lyrics that not only enrich the emotional tone of the scene but resonate with Buddhist thought. The overriding quality of the text and lyrics brings further awareness to the strength and resilience of the human spirit in the face of disaster. The world of the play is manifested through the performances of ten professional actor/singers and three musicians on a stage without sets and only minimal props. The Noh informed rehearsal techniques will assist the performers in striving to be ‘spiritual guides” for the audience to actively use their imaginations and inspire participation in creating their personal experiences of the performance. The incorporation of cinematic elements, video projections, newsreel footage to create an energetic atmosphere reminiscent of the actual events provides a visceral experience and dimensionality. The treatment of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown story will call into question the human responsibility that is inherent to man-made disasters and provide a theatrical investigative journalistic element to the production.

ミュージックドラマ 風鈴と灯台 、その背景と使命。

ミュージックドラマ風鈴と灯台、その背景と使命。