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After the gravediggers return to dust…

4^ Watanabe is not known for having any strong political commitment. She thinks of herself keeping a safe distance from political action. But the war in Iraq compelled her to think about remaining indifferent at the time of crisis. She still thinks theatre should not be turned into a medium for political assertions. However, when war becomes the issue, she is not hesitant to change that position..."We theatricals are keeping alive a 3,000-year history and tradition. And our precursors are telling us this: Give voice to words that will dig deep into the souls of people, not words that will fill the house. Speak lines that will live forever, even after the gravedigger himself has returned to dust."
AS the dogs of war are still barking across the shattered cities and oilfields across Iraq, the voice against war and destruction seems to be giving up to the new emerging reality that has been shaped by the powerful force of visual media around the world. Saddam Hussein no longer stands as a hero, but turned out to be a tragic fugitive discarded even by his closest relatives and desperately trying to find a place for hiding in our cramped and hollow earth. The 'liberators', on the other hand, find a sadistic solace by letting lose their gangs of looters who under the protection of heavily armed
Texan gung-hoes systematically destroy the remains of historical and cultural legacies of a nation tracing back to thousands of years. This is probably a natural outcome when a nation without its own history, other than that of getting rid of everything
that existed within its own territorial borders before the arrival of new masters, takes control of the world; and also a stark reminder of what lies ahead of us in coming days.
As the victors are too busy deciding who is to get which slice of the greater loot of a country that has been subjugated and cowed down, a deep sigh of silence reign the other end of equation where the voice of reason is supposed to have its own foothold. The much talked about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), which were repeatedly sighted and highlighted by the new media emperors known worldwide by their simple abbreviations of CNN and BBC as the logic behind waging an all out assault against a sovereign state, have so far nowhere been found. As if WMD have also gone deep underground like Saddam himself.
We shouldn't forget the fact that the new imperial power that waged war against Iraq wasn't ready to allow the United Nations to extend its search for Iraq's 'hidden weapons' even for one single week. Now almost five weeks have passed since the naked invasion. After failing to locate anything similar to that of deadly poison gas or destructive nuclear device, the new masters have eventually come up with a new terminology in the name of 'sanctions busting' that they claim is equally dangerous as the WMD. Sanctions busting, as some of us might remember, is nothing new and was widely practiced by the predecessors of the new masters in the process of helping their client regime in apartheid South Africa. If Saddam is
to be accused and blamed for busting the UN sanctions, the same should also apply to the father of the present US president and a few others who are still alive and kicking. But ironically justice always follows the dictates of victors and here also we are not supposed to expect any exception.
The strong voice against war that sounded loud and clear throughout the period of bombing and burning of Iraq has somehow fallen silent in Japan since the day US marines were seen moving all over Baghdad. People, even those who were on the streets a few days ago, seem to have accepted the new reality as irony of fate and decided to maintain a low-profile at a difficult time when the emperors of TV screens are heralding tirelessly the emergence of an era of reason and justice. But that clear voice of rightful dissent has obviously not gone all in vein.
There are people all over Japan, just like everywhere else in our mother earth, who are trying to keep the decency of their heart by upholding the truth in a way that might turn out to be meaningful. Japanese playwright and actress Eriko Watanabe no doubt belongs to that category. She has recently published an opinionated piece in Japan's leading daily Asahi Shimbun, where she called upon the people of Japan not to hesitate to show their strong anti-war sentiment.
The day US forces launched attack against Iraq, Eriko Watanabe along with a friend from the world of theatre rushed to the official residence of the prime minister to request him not to
support the war. As the security guards at the gate stopped them, she insisted that she should be allowed at least to leave a message for the prime minister, and the security staff granted the request.
Watanabe is not known for having any strong political commitment. She thinks of herself keeping a safe distance from political action. But the war in Iraq compelled her to think about remaining indifferent at the time of crisis. She still thinks theatre should not be turned into a medium for political assertions. However, when war becomes the issue, she is not hesitant to change that position.
As the wind of war started to blow around the deserts of Iraq from late January, Eriko Watanabe and a number of fellow travelers in Japanese theatre started to think what they could do to oppose the coming war. This resulted in a script written jointly for dramatic reading, which was first performed on February 28 at a Tokyo hall and was repeated later in early April. More than forty theatre personalities participated in the performance that they have named "We are not giving up -- the theatre can empower people not to wage war."
Watanabe rightfully thinks that no immediate result of the effort should be expected, despite being upbeat that in the long run it will have its impact on those to whom the script is directed. In international politics where raw violence and power play dominate, she considers the people associated with theatre, having only bodies and words to utter, to be pathetically helpless creatures. But
she is also convinced that repeating the message would eventually allow it gaining the power to help bring change not only in Japanese society, but the whole world too. No wonder as the script contains such strong appeal:
"We theatricals are keeping alive a 3,000-year history and tradition. And our precursors are telling us this: Give voice to words that will dig deep into the souls of people, not words that will fill the house. Speak lines that will live forever, even after the gravedigger himself has returned to dust."