Scored in Silence

by Chisato Minamimura

Co-presented with the DAN School of Music and Drama

Scored in Silence is a solo sign language performance by London-based Deaf Japanese artist Chisato Minamimura. The show unpacks the hidden perspectives of Deaf people from the small number that survived the horrors of the atomic bomb atrocity in Japan in 1945. Survivors of the A-bomb are known as “hibakusha,” and the final performance is based on a period of research, interviews and original films of elderly Deaf people with lived experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Minamimura brings these untold narratives into stark relief, touching upon the atrocity of the event and its aftermath, including the layers of discrimination experienced by these isolated members of Japanese society.  

ASL Interpretation: This show is performed in ASL and voiced by interpreters. 

Credits

Artistic Director/Performer – Chisato Minamimura

Producer – Michael Kitchin

Lighting Designer and Production Manager – Jon Armstrong

Animator – Dave Packer

Sonic Artist – Danny Bright

Audio Describer / Writer / Mentor – William Elliot

Vibrotactile Specialists – David Bobier/Jim Ruxton (VibrafusionLab)

Sign Mime Specialist – Tetsuya Izaki

Sign Language Mentor – Steven Webb

Acknowledgements

Scored in Silence is funded by Arts Council England, Canada Council for the Arts, The Great Britain SASAKAWA Foundation and British Council, and made possible with support from VibrafusionLab, Fanshawe, Ovalhouse Theatre, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft and Cuspinc

Photo by Mark Pickthall