Ōoka Shōhei is the author of a classic Japanese novel - 'Fires on the Plain'. This is the stage play of that novel, a solo performance delivered with honesty and power by the actor Nagai Hideki.
The play is a harrowing story of Japanese soldiers fighting in the Philippines who find themselves trapped when the Americans arrive. For me, the play had one central theme the transition of this small pocket of humanity from its almost ritualistic focus on order and control towards madness, chaos, despair and eventually even cannibalism.
The play is presented in a small theatre in front of a live audience with a multi camera set up. It's a simple but highly effective set up. The low-level lighting for the audience may well have been perfect, there were occasions where it challenged the capabilities of the equipment being used and I found myself peering into too much gloom to try and discern what was happening.
The story and the play are harrowing, the events which take place are confronting and the stuff of nightmares. The slow and tortuous descent of the characters presented (all played by Nagai Hideki) into madness and the stripping away of their humanity is delivered in a series of vignettes and scenes. Occasionally the pace slackens but soon returns. The accompanying music and soundtrack add to the atmosphere in an effective manner.
You can only look at these characters and wonder about your own response to such a situation. Can we all fall so quickly into this animalistic pit of kill or be killed? Just as in William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies' demonstrates the answer I think is almost certainly yes, which is always a chilling and depressing conclusion to reach.
Delivered Online
Show Time: Anytime
1 -25 Aug
Ticket prices: Pay What You Can
Tickets: https://res.cthearts.com/event/34:5026/34:82037/
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/fires-on-the-plain-online-on-demand
Warnings: Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes.