Actors Riko Nakazona (left) and Michael Mears reenact the Enola Gay’s flight over Hiroshima in The Mistake.
The Mistake is a gripping and powerful examination of the decisions that went into the development of the atomic bomb and its initial deployment on Hiroshima. Written by cast member Michael Mears and directed by Rosamunde Hutt, the play is an unflinching look at the emotional and physical destruction of scientific breakthroughs when they are used to stop a war, as told by the inventor of the nuclear chain reaction, Leo Szilard.
Shigeko (Nakazono) searches for family survivors after the dropping of the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
In The Mistake, Szilard (Mears) is joined by a survivor of the detonation, Shigeko (Riko Nakazono), who documents the day and its aftermath in her diary. The thorny question of morality—did the bomb save lives or was it unnecessary, because the war was ending?—remains unanswered, but in this telling by Mears the inventor clearly regrets his discovery and involvement.
The play follows the thoughts and actions of Szilard and Shigeko as their story takes the same trajectory before crashing horribly: Szilard was initially overjoyed with his discovery, while Shigeko was relieved and happy that her city gave an all-clear signal on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945.
At 8:15 a.m. that day, an American plane dropped the atomic bomb on the city. According to Gen. Paul Tibbets, there were mistakes. Not taking air raid warnings seriously and not identifying the Enola Gay correctly on the part of the Japanese led to massive casualties. “The radio broadcast said it appeared to be just a reconnaissance plane.’ … Reconnaissance plane? Another mistake!” exclaimed Tibbets. “They should have been in their shelters, dammit!”
Physicist Leo Szilard (Mears, who also wrote the play) explains his theory of nuclear chain reaction that became the basis for the development of the atomic bomb.
Scenes of Szilard detailing the research and then approval of the bomb alternate with Shigeko’s hunt for family members after the explosion, seesawing the challenge of development against the devastation of deployment. Szilard is excited that his invention is being built; injured, Shigeko stumbles through the wreckage that the invention created.
Szilard introduces many well-known associates with whom he worked. Albert Einstein writes a letter to President Roosevelt encouraging the pursuit of the bomb. Enrico Fermi is a close friend. J. Robert Oppenheimer, secret weapons designer of the Manhattan Project, makes a brief cameo.
The initial rationale is to create the bomb before the Germans. However, as the bomb gets closer to completion, the war in Europe is winding down. This signals to Szilard that maybe the threat of having a bomb is better than the actual use of it. He implores his fellow scientists not to deploy his creation. As the science gives way to political considerations, Szilard’s doubts and opinions are ignored.
What is impossible to ignore are the extraordinary performances of the two actors—Nakazono, who also plays a reporter and other roles, and Mears, who also undertakes Tibbets, Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Shigeko’s fiancé Takashi. (I also think Nakazono took my ticket as I entered the theater.)
Nakazono’s Shigeko captured the survivors’ grief and disbelief at what was happening to her and her family and was riveting throughout. When asked to help by other survivors, she coldly responds, “I can’t help you! I’m sorry! I’ve only strength enough to search for my own family.”
Mears established each of his characters so they were immediately recognizable, using accents, posture and occasionally a prop. For example, Tibbets spoke with an American midwestern drawl; Szilard retained his Hungarian accent. Mears adroitly projected the fading pride in his invention as he learned the potential for the horror it could deliver.
Throughout the many scenes, in Hiroshima, Chicago, London, Berlin, Long Island and New Mexico, the actors in the company, Essential Theater UK, used a few key pieces to complement the telling of the tale. (Essential deliberately chooses sparsely decorated stages with minimal props.) For instance, a cane is attached to a toy airplane to simulate the flight of the Enola Gay across the stage; later, the cane is used as the throttle stick during the reenactment of Tibbets’s fateful approach to dropping the bomb.
Another aspect of Essential’s plays is that it presents “urgent and important issues.” That is certainly the case with The Mistake. In spite of the horrific scenes described during the play, Mears leaves the audience with a positive thought: “However desperate things may seem, we have to maintain, we have to believe in, a narrow margin of hope.”
Essential Theatre UK’s The Mistake runs through May 11 as part of the Brits Off Broadway festival at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th St.). Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit 59e59.org.
Playwright: Michael Mears
Direction: Rosamunde Hutt
Scenic and Costume Design: Mark Friend
Lighting: Angelo Sagnelli and Richard Williamson
Sound Design: Claire Windsor
