The year: 1948.

Location: Nomomachi Hospital, Nagasaki Prefecture.

Hanami time. The arrival of cherry-blossom. The renewal of hope.

Navy Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton Jnr, 26 year-old war hero, boxing champion and all-American boy, returns to his homeland to find his mother  – and discover the truth about his father.

He speaks no Japanese. Knows nothing of its culture.

His only clues: some of his mother’s medical records – and her diary.

 

Based on music and characters from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, The Wedding Collective’s site-specific event will again explore, through powerful drama and searing music, one of the most iconic stories of the 20th Century – but in a radical piece of guerilla theatre.

And once again the show features a professional cast from Japan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and China working alongside a chorus of London refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants. A collaboration giving a unique experience to audiences and artists alike.

To be performed, in October 2012, in English, Japanese and Italian – with surtitles.

The venue: an amazing found space in East London.