Samurai Digger is being researched and created in sister cities – Nara, Japan and Canberra, Australia.
Through creative developments and interviews with WW2 diggers, Japanese soldiers, keepers of the Samurai sword making tradition and charitable organisations in both countries.
The performance piece is a two-hander, in two languages. The hybrid performance begins with rituals inspired by tea-ceremonies, forging samurai swords, and worship. It moves towards conflict and then tells the poetic story of the return of Samurai swords after WW2 by catholic priest Tony Glynn after WW2 and work to protect the poor and the love children of Australian soldiers.
Samurai Digger combines two iconic traditions and weaves them together in a evocation of the importance of peacemaking in the contemporary world.