The Winds of God
By Masayuki Imai. Directed by Yoko Narahashi
Twelfth Night Theatre, Brisbane, August 26-31
Reviewed by Brendan Doyle
In October 1944, Japan's military high command, in a final desperate bid to avoid crushing defeat by the US navy, set up the notorious Kamikaze (Winds of God) corps. Hundreds of young men were sent off to die for their country by crash-diving Zero fighters into enemy ships.
The difficulty of understanding the apparent fervour of these young suicide pilots prompted Masayuki Imai to interview surviving members of the squad and write this play in 1991. After many successful performances in the US and Japan the Tokyo-based United Performers Studio has brought this English language production to Australia as part of a "World Peace Tour."
"Sacrifice my life for my country? Hell no, I'd rather die having sex", says one of the two zany young actors, Aniki and Kinta, as they run through the comedy routine that opens the show. Then, goofing off on a motorbike, they are hit by a truck which somehow throws them into a time warp — back to August 1945. They realise with horror that they are in an earlier reincarnation as Kamikaze pilots, members of a squad who are waiting their turn to die.
As the play progresses, we get to know each member of the squad as they write letters home or talk about their beliefs. The mood gradually changes from zany comedy to brutal realism. Through the eyes of the two time-travellers we see the madness of young men caught up in the utter desperation of all-out war. They argue about who is winning the war. The two escapees from the future know what happened, but the others refuse to believe. They are swept along in a wave of blind patriotism.
In a very moving scene, the squad hears that a huge, blinding blast has devastated the city of Hiroshima. This only makes them more resolute in their hatred of the American barbarians.
There are very impressive mime sequences where the pilots plunge their Zeros into US warships, with a minimum of props but very effective soundtrack and lighting effects.
This passionate play shows how young men's enormous energy can be manipulated in the name of God, the family, the Emperor or the nation. It portrays the waste of young lives in a war they did not choose. Winds of God warns that young people can again be used by those in power to fight and die for spurious values.
Winds of God was presented in Sydney as part of the fourth Sydney Asian Theatre Festival — Variasians — which concludes on September 1. For more information about the program of story-telling, dance, drama, comedy and music at the festival, telephone (02) 9310 0964.