Camden Fringe 2024
A Red Coat in the Rising Sun
Draft 99
Genre: Fringe Theatre, Historical, New Writing
Venue: Etcetera Theatre
Festival: Camden Fringe
Low Down
When Kayo returns from Tokyo to her family’s home on the southern Island of Kyushu, more than 1200km away, she assumes it will be the simple task of putting the few things she wants together and the rest can go to the tip. However, when she opens a wooden box she finds more than she bargained for.
Review
The play opens with a lady in a yellow kimono and a mask dancing with a fan. It is a very emotive opening and I wish more of this kind of performance would have been in the play. There are clearly constraints due to the nature of this fringe production, but it might be nice to have Japanese masks performing between the two different times the play is set. As if the ghost of our ancestors were guiding us through space and time.
When Kayo enters she is wearing her grandmother’s kimono and admiring herself in the mirror. Memories flood back, not all are good. We get only little information of what Kayo’s life was like when she was little. This is a shame. I would have liked to learn more about her and how she fits into the family and the house. We know Kayo was sent away to live with relatives at the age of seven, when her mother remarried and she was in the way of the new relationship. One thing is certain, she wasn’t happy and she didn’t feel loved. Even contemporary Kayo is a bit of an enigma. For example, who is that British friend that calls her when she is rummaging though the contents of the house. Obviously, we only hear one side of the conversation, but we can figure out she is expected back, probably work. However, the house is so full of stuff, it will take her more than a week to throw everything out and she certainly has no time to take things to a charity shop.
Despite being alone in the house, there are noises. Probably just a window getting caught in the wind, but it is unnerving for Kayo and the audience. She goes to check and comes back with a small wooden box in which she finds a mask. In another case she finds an old service weapon. She also finds a picture with a note. Later she has found a letter that she reads out. Interwoven with these scenes are those that tell the story Kayo is about to discover. It is the story of Kiyo and Barker, who arrives wounded at her doorstep. Neither speaks the other’s language and the resulting mime gave raise to many giggles and even laughter. The scenes were charming and brought some lightness into the play. Kiyo’s lines were entirely in Japanese, translated by Midori Ogawa, who also played Kayo and her ancestor Kiyo. The fact that most of the audience were in the same boat as the British soldier Barker was a good touch, but I felt it went on for too long. I would have loved to be the all-knowing spectator and have access to a translation.
There are some interesting points made in the play, but they feel very 21st century, so does the language. The play could do with more historical research, maybe a grant might be had from the Imperial War Museum for this. Drawing on more first accounts from the period would make some of the Brit’s line more convincing. The script would also benefit from more accuracy in military language. For example Barker refers to his weapon as a ‘gun’ not a ‘rifle’. Granted this might be due to the weapon being more a pistol than a rifle which would have been the accurate weapon at the time. However, it’s a Fringe productions so costumes and props are more of a hint then anything close to a reproduction. It is a good idea to bring this historic event, the Namamugi Incident, to a wider public. The more accurate the information, for example by drawing on eye witness accounts in both countries, the better the play and the more rounded the audience’s experience will be. This is a very good start for a work that has much potential. The writer Ross Stephenson has done well to draw this historic fact to attention, but for it to reach a wider audience, the work needs more substance. At 35 minutes the play is too short for the heft of the story.
When I came down the stairs from the theatre into the pub I overheard a group of young people talking about the play. One said they wanted more and another chimed in that they felt the same. I also agree with this sentiment. There is so much more that could be explored. I would encourage the author to really spend some extended time researching the period and create a full length play. With the right creative team that keeps an eye on historic accurate language, dress, props and sets, this could be a very didactic and thought provoking play.
Ogawa is a compelling actor. She managed to convey the two different women very distinctively with next to no help from costume. The only help she got was a pair of socks that she put on when she was the contemporary character. I enjoyed her dancing at the beginning and it might have been nice if another dance had finished the play. Nathan Brocklebank is giving his debut in this production and he is very enthusiastic. Maybe a bit too enthusiastic for a Mid-19th century upper class officer, especially one that has been shot. However, I don’t think he was helped much by a script that was just too modern in its language. Occasionally, a northern inflection creeped in and I wish we could have heard more of Brocklebank’s native Lancashire dialect. The Etcetera theatre is a fairly small venue and both actors’ well trained voices were at times a bit too booming for the space. A rare issue these days when most actors need amplification in even moderate venues. Overall a good project that is worth developing further.
