Financial Report 2012 of the Earthquake Support
Following is the report of the account of “SHINSAI Theaters for Japan 2012”:
・Total revenue ¥2,493,897
・Total expenses ¥335,120
・CF to 2013 ¥2,158,777
▽ Revenue
（1）BF from 2011 ¥111,729
（2）SHINSAI donations (from The Dramatists Guild Fund) ¥2,284,204
（3）Donations into bank account(home) ¥10,000
（4）Donations in cash(home) ¥87,964
▽ Expenses
（1）Tohoku branch “Beyond March 11th” rehearsed reading (Morioka City)
・Transportation expenses for the participants (gas, express way) , 8 cars ¥174,120
・Lodging charges of participants for 20 nights ¥120,000
・Staff remuneration(part-time) ¥41,000
・Total revenue ¥2,493,897
・Total expenses ¥335,120
・CF to 2013 ¥2,158,777
▽ Revenue
（1）BF from 2011 ¥111,729
（2）SHINSAI donations (from The Dramatists Guild Fund) ¥2,284,204
（3）Donations into bank account(home) ¥10,000
（4）Donations in cash(home) ¥87,964
▽ Expenses
（1）Tohoku branch “Beyond March 11th” rehearsed reading (Morioka City)
・Transportation expenses for the participants (gas, express way) , 8 cars ¥174,120
・Lodging charges of participants for 20 nights ¥120,000
・Staff remuneration(part-time) ¥41,000
As a substitute for the report
Kuramochi Hiroyuki
(Japan Playwrights Association, Head of Tohoku Branch)
(Japan Playwrights Association, Head of Tohoku Branch)
I was moved to tears when I learned that a play-reading event, “SHINSAI Theatres for Japan,” would be held throughout the USA to raise donations in support of theatre people in the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake-stricken Tohoku area; at the same time I felt slightly embarrassed that I had not already done anything directly for victims of the earthquake.
And when I, as a theatre person from Tohoku, came to the point when I had to decide how to use that donated money, I was at my wit’s end.
The stricken areas are wide-ranging. They include, for example, Sendai, where there are persons who earn half of their living via theatre, and other areas such as Iwate and Fukushima, where there are actors who make their living while holding other jobs but perform only once a year for decades. There are other areas where theatre itself is non-existent.
The needy areas cover territory equal to that between San Francisco and Los Angeles, so I didn’t know how to distribute the donated money, to what kind of theatre people and for what purpose.
We heard that in a coastal area in Iwate Prefecture, all the props kept in a warehouse had been washed away. In Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures there were theatre people who have lost their dwellings. On the other hand, there were actors from Tohoku who went to give performances in stricken areas. In what ways can we encourage those theatre people under different situations how best to use the contributions so generously sent by our American counterparts?
To ponder for myself had a limit, and the Tohoku theatre people I would normally ask for advice were scattered. I talked to a few people face-to-face or on the phone and was given some good ideas:
・Create a play and tour with it.
・Make an anthology of earthquake-related scripts written by Tohoku playwrights.
・Get together anyway.
Eventually we decided to use the donations to underwrite a rehearsed reading. Fortunately there was to be an Iwate Art Theatre Convention, which we used as a framework; in that way we were able to use the venue and thus save the costs.
I talked with others who said they would be grateful to use their grant to underwrite future costs. We were united in mutual support.
Some day a Tohoku theatre may create a play with a message to our American counterparts or a play communicating the current situations of the stricken areas. Until then we will live these post-earthquake days with grateful hearts.
And when I, as a theatre person from Tohoku, came to the point when I had to decide how to use that donated money, I was at my wit’s end.
The stricken areas are wide-ranging. They include, for example, Sendai, where there are persons who earn half of their living via theatre, and other areas such as Iwate and Fukushima, where there are actors who make their living while holding other jobs but perform only once a year for decades. There are other areas where theatre itself is non-existent.
The needy areas cover territory equal to that between San Francisco and Los Angeles, so I didn’t know how to distribute the donated money, to what kind of theatre people and for what purpose.
We heard that in a coastal area in Iwate Prefecture, all the props kept in a warehouse had been washed away. In Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures there were theatre people who have lost their dwellings. On the other hand, there were actors from Tohoku who went to give performances in stricken areas. In what ways can we encourage those theatre people under different situations how best to use the contributions so generously sent by our American counterparts?
To ponder for myself had a limit, and the Tohoku theatre people I would normally ask for advice were scattered. I talked to a few people face-to-face or on the phone and was given some good ideas:
・Create a play and tour with it.
・Make an anthology of earthquake-related scripts written by Tohoku playwrights.
・Get together anyway.
Eventually we decided to use the donations to underwrite a rehearsed reading. Fortunately there was to be an Iwate Art Theatre Convention, which we used as a framework; in that way we were able to use the venue and thus save the costs.
I talked with others who said they would be grateful to use their grant to underwrite future costs. We were united in mutual support.
Some day a Tohoku theatre may create a play with a message to our American counterparts or a play communicating the current situations of the stricken areas. Until then we will live these post-earthquake days with grateful hearts.
The 65th Iwate Art Festival Theatre Convention “Beyond 3.11, rehearsed reading”: as a token of appreciation for “SHINSAI Theaters for Japan”
Date 4th November, 2012
Venue: Town Hall, Morioka Theatre
The charity project “Shinsai Theaters for Japan” was held on 11th March, 2012 in more than 70 areas in USA; in response “Shinsai Theatres for Japan in Tokyo” was held on 5th August. Both of them consisted of series of 19 short scripts related to the earthquake and written by Japanese and American playwrights.
And on 4th November six out of those scripts were rehearsed and read at Morioka City in Tohoku.
◎ Program
1. Hassaku (selection) by Ishihara Nen
performed by Trouble Café Theatre(Iwate)
2. Wind from Northwest by Shinohara Kumiko
Performed by Unit Rabits (Fukushima)
3. A Problem of Blood by Sakate Yoji
Performed by Numayama Hanako, Eto Masaru(Aomori)
4. Child is Father to Man written by Philip Kan Gotanda, translated by Yoshihara Toyoshi
Performed by NakaJo Nobu (Miyagi)
5. A Guide to Japanese Etiquette written by Doug Wright, translated by Tsuneda Keiko
performed by Gekidan Seminar (Iwate)
6. Sayonara II (selection) written by Hirata Oriza
Performed by Produce Team Will Power (Akita)
◎ Post-Performance Talk: “Support in the aftermath of the earthquake and theater”
How have the plays created after the earthquake changed or have not changed.
What is the role of theatre in the post-earthquake support? What are the thoughts of the theatre people who are supported?
We will think about the distance of each person between the earthquake-stricken area.
Panelists: Shinohara Kumiko, Hase Hiroichi, Takamura Akihiko, and representatives from each prefecture.
MC: Kuramochi Hiroyuki
