Kuro Productions presents
Operetta “Nedeshiko”
Letters from the Hiroshima family to their beloved children
Monologues and narratives of actual letters between family members at the end of WW II in Hiroshima, Japan. Presented as an operetta, composed by Yoshiyuki Kodama, interwoven with melodic piano accompaniment. This operetta never passes judgement or points the finger of blame. Instead, by portraying the love shared by a family, it passes along the hope for world peace. Produced and directed by Yukari Black of Kuro Productions.
August 7 (Friday) 7PM
Irvine Presbyterian Church, 4445 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA 92604
August 9 (Sunday) 3PM
Zipper Hall at Colburn School, 200 South Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
90 min. play
Suggested donation: $20 per person
For reservation, contact Kuro Productions by email kuroproductions@yahoo.com or call (818) 769-5697. http://www.facebook.com/nadeshiko2015
Yukari Black as Sakiko
Hisato Masuyama Ball as Father
Shiori Ideta as Mother
Noi Maeshige as Taisuke
This operetta was written by Yoshio Kodama in 1994, based on letters that were exchanged between actual members of the Yao family in Hiroshima around the end of World War II.
In 1944, the year before the war ended, Mr. Yao’s transfer made it necessary for his family to move from Tokyo to Hiroshima.
The Family consisted of a father and mother and their four children. In April, 1945, they had to send two of their children, 12-year-old Yoji and 9-year-old Sakiko, away as part of a school evacuation so they could escape from the intensifying air-raids.
Living in the countryside, away from their family, was a hardship to Yoji and Sakiko. To encourage and ease their discomforts, the parents and elder brother, Taisuke, sent them frequent letters.
On August 6, the first atomic bomb in human history was dropped on Hiroshima City. The parents and younger sister became its victims, their house in the center of the city burned to ashes.
Their brother, Taisuke, met his death while working in the city on student relocations. Yoji and Sakiko had lost everything except for a bundle of letters from their family.
The heroine, Sakiko, never utters a word of resentment against the atomic bomb which had taken away her parents, brother and sister. The parental love and affection in these letters gave them a new perspective and point of view towards war, not to hold a grudge against the war and atomic bombs.
This musical allows you to discover the compassion that lies in their everyday conversation. It is presented with lyrical piano accompaniment.
In this “Nadeshiko”, you find the existence of a human’s powerful resilience and love which cannot be easily destroyed by tragedy. You can survive and achieve even more strength and compassion.
This operetta never passes judgment or points the finger of blame. Instead, by portraying the love shared by a family, it passes along the hope for world peace.